For You Sonic I Will
by Enigma Echidna
Summary: Is it a true reality or is it a dream? In all the years, Sonic never attempted to truly know the real Amy. Mistakes have been made, causing her to leave SS for 3yrs.Will The Blue Bomber realize what his actions has truly cost him and to his friends?
1. Thoughts and Feelings

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.  
  
Sonic- 18 years  
  
Amy- 16 years  
  
Tails- 13 years  
  
Knuckles- 20 years  
  
Shadow- 19 years  
  
Cream- 9 years  
  
Rouge- 22 years  
  
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Chapter 1: Thoughts and Feelings  
  
Love is something that has always seemed uncool to me, as thought on this lumpy old couch at the dump. Sure, it's a blast to have girls squeal their heads off whenever I make the scene. I just can't see myself with a girlfriend.at all. You know what having one means? It means I'd have to give up my way cool lifestyle, and I would probably have to give up adventuring! I'm not saying that I don't like the opposite sex; it's just that I haven't found the one for me yet. True, I could settle for Amy, but why would I do such a stupid thing as that. She is so frelling annoying! She hugs like a robotic crustation, which I'd prefer over her! Can't she take a hint, I don't like her in the way she wants me to like her. I don't even like her as a friend! I know that everyone says that I care for her, and that I don't show it. I would prefer it if she would just go away. Hell, if I'd had a magic lamp right about now, that would be my first, second and third wish.  
"Hey, Sonic!", I leaned up from this torn, discolored couch, and spotted Tails running up to me. "Yo, Tails! What's up?" I asked when he came a little closer. "What are you doing in a place like this? I never expected you hang out here in a dump?'' As I got up from the old thing and gave a little stretch, I looked at him dead in the eye and said "I know that this is the only place Amy will never find me."  
Tails looked at me and blinked for a moment and then shrugged, " Ya know Sonic, and she's not that bad of a person to hang out with. I mean you've never once given her a chance to be close to you like Knuckles, Shadow, Cream, Rouge, and I are." I scoffed when I heard him utter those words "never gave her a chance", I gave her plenty of chances to get to know her. "Listen bro', don't you think that I given her a chance! I wasted so much time in the process of being her friend. Lord knows I did. She's.she's is the one of most useless creature alive. She has no right to even exist in this world or even in the next one!" I knew what I said, and not once did I think about the consequences.  
Amy Rose the Hedgehog is one creature that I would never miss! If she packed up and left Station Square, I'd be one of the happiest hedgehogs ever to have lived. Who would ever love her!  
Tails sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder, "Come on. Let's get out of this place and get something to eat. I'm starving, and besides.it's getting pretty cold outside." I shivered a bit as a trail of cold air went up my spines. I remember long ago someone had mentioned to me that whenever there's a day that is not supposed to exist in a season, it usually indicates something bad is going to happen.  
I had to agree with what Tails said. It was getting cold out and how strange that it was on a summer night. Summer nights are supposed to somewhat muggy and humid. I stretched again and let out a great big yawn, before looking at the somewhat starry sky and then to Tails, "Yeah, let's get out of this dump. I'm so hungry, that I could eat my weight in food."  
  
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Love is one of the greatest of all feelings, as I think to myself. Even being loved by someone is awesome. It doesn't matter if it came from friends or family, but it would be even better if that love came from that certain someone you love with your heart and soul. For me that someone was Sonic. I know in the easiest of words he finds me annoying , but I can't help it. It's not like I do it to him on purpose. Whenever I see him it's like as if we're ..we're .. jeez it's just so hard to describe how I feel about him. Whenever I see him I lose any sense of self-control. Never in my wildest of dreams did I ever think of appearing like a fan-girl to him. In the very beginning, all I wanted to do was be myself. I know we were young when we first meet all those years ago on that mythical planet that everyone knew as Little Planet, and oh how I tried my best to get him to notice me by just being myself. He never did notice. Sonic just seemed to be more involved with the praises he got from his fans. Girl fans to be exact. It just seemed that is what he responded best to. I didn't want to lose him at all, but what choice did I have. That's why I am the way I am today.  
All I wanted in life is to make him happy, to let him know that someone out there truly loves him and would do anything for him. As I gazed into one of the many store windows, I look at myself in the reflection and saw a pathetic pink hedgehog holding shopping bags and with probably no hope of ever being loved by the one creature that she has loved for what seemed to be like forever.  
Maybe it would be better if I left Station Square, and never looked back. It probably would be better for the both of us, and I know as I felt my eyes start to water and sting, that it would make him happy. That's all I've ever wanted for him to be, happy and nothing more. Maybe I should finally give up on him. I'm losing the war for his heart. Maybe I should just take that job offer in Roatha City. I'd be far from him and far away from Station Square. But I know that it would never be far enough to ease my heart. With a heavy sigh, I turned away from the store window and started to walk down the block towards my apartment. As I walk up the steps to enter my building, I realize what if the way Sonic was acting was his way of protecting me from being used as target by Eggman, as his alkies heel. Then again, Eggman always uses me to get to Sonic. Not once did he ever let me down when it came to saving my life.  
This was really eating me up inside. I just couldn't shake this feeling of hope that was in my heart. As I turned the key to open my apartment door I knew then that I had to know for sure. I needed to know to truth. I felt as if I had a right to it. To know how Sonic the Hedgehog truly felt about me! With that notion in my mind, I hurried and put away all the groceries in their proper places. I dashed to the closet and grabbed my coat since it was now getting dark outside and strangely cold for a summer night. I started to get this bad feeling. It was if someone was gleefully dancing on my very own grave. 


	2. Memories and Heartache

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.  
  
Sonic- 18 years  
  
Amy- 16 years  
  
Tails- 13 years  
  
Knuckles- 20 years  
  
Shadow- 19 years  
  
Cream- 9 years  
  
Rouge- 22 years  
  
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Chapter 2: Memories and Heartache  
  
Sonic and Tails, raced down the main road of Station Square in the direction of their favorite fast food restaurant. Neither had spoken a word to the other since leaving the dump a few minuets before. Tails still couldn't believe what his hero had said about Amy. Amy was not the type of person that everyone thought she was. Heck, even he thought she was a bit annoying when he first meet her. Tails could even remember the very first time he got to actually know the real Amy Rose.  
It was a cloudy day and the weather man had predicted thunderstorms later in the day. Oh, how he hated thunderstorms then. Then again all kids are afraid of thunder, but why did it have to be him? He was the "adoptive" little brother of Sonic the Hedgehog! The fastest and most heroic hedgehog that ever existed on the planet, probably even the universe. He could remember he was five at the time of his encounter, and that it had gotten very dark and windy in the late afternoon. He did his best to race to find shelter before the rain got any heavier, and before it thundered. Lost in the thought of avoiding the rain, Tails was totally unprepared to hear one of the loudest thunder claps in his life. The sound was so loud that the next day the inhabitants of Station Square recalled hearing it from the very outskirts of town, which was close to Auraopolis. Each inhabitant described the sound as something different. One claimed it sounded like a car exploding; another said it sounded as if a bomb went off. To Tails it sounded just plain scary.  
In his panic, Tails went and knocked over the person in front of him. He kept his eyes closed hoping that this person wouldn't be mad for knocking them down, even if it was an accident. He was hoping that it was some muscle bound guy, who would take revenge on guys like him. Tails slowly opened his eyes and took a good look at the person he had knocked down. It was Amy, and she had fallen into a puddle, and soaked to the bone from the rain. I looked over to her left side and saw she had dropped her umbrella. I snatched it and gave it to her, all the while helping her out of the puddle that I had knocked her into to. She shivered a little, and smiled at me. I was sort of hoping for her to scold me for not watching where I was going in her high pitch that I had become so accustomed to, but she didn't she just smiled and placed me under her umbrella. "This is no weather for man or for beast right now. Why don't we go to my apartment and dry off?" said Amy, smiling at me sweetly. Dumbfounded I nodded and went with her. I was totally expecting a different Amy. Where was the Amy who had the annoying voice, who was clingy, and whines so much?  
When we reached the outside of her apartment door, I was expecting her place to be totally pink, hearts, and covered with Sonic memorabilia. As she opened the door to let us in, I could have sworn that my mouth hit the floor. Her apartment was small and indeed girly and very cozy, but it wasn't pink and it didn't have any trace of Sonic in sight! All the walls in the living room were a soft color of blue. Her carpet very soft and white, it gave almost of feel of walking on clouds. She had one or two plush toys sitting on a soft green colored sofa, that when pulled out converts to a bed for when company spends the night.  
It seemed as if the green sofa was like grass and the carpet as if clouds surrounding it as if hiding it from sight. Amy placed her hand on my shoulder again and I broke out of my trance. "Tails, would you like some hot cocoa?" asked Amy sweetly as she handed me a nice warm and fluffy white bath towel with her other hand. "Sure." I chirped as I dried myself off with towel, then wrapping it around me to keep warm. Amy headed into the kitchen and pulled out a sauce pan from a clean rack of dishes inside the dishwasher, then gave it a quick rinse before placing it on the stove. She then went to the refrigerator and took out a half galloon of 2% milk and poured it into the pan. After that she then turned on the burner to warm the milk and stirred it with a long wooden spoon in order for the milk temperature to change quickly.  
I couldn't help but stare at her. Amy looked like a mother in the kitchen, humming such a soft and kind tune as she stirred the milk while adding chunks of chocolate into the same sauce pan. "Why are you doing this Amy? Is it because I'm Sonic's best friend?" I asked bluntly. Amy took the sauce pan off the stove and poured its contents into two mugs, and then handed one to me. She smiled again at me and motioned to the sofa.  
As we both sat on the sofa, Amy placed her mug onto the coffee table and looked at me. "Let me be honest with you Tails. I'm not doing this to get close to Sonic. I consider you as one of my close friends. You're kind of the little brother I'd always wanted. Besides I couldn't leave you outside and catch a cold. What kind of person would that make me?"  
Honestly I was really unprepared to hear what Amy had to say. I really expected her to sound like a total fan girl, and ask me whether Sonic had ever mentioned in passing about liking her. As I look back to that day, never once did she mention him. It was only I who did. If she did, it would have made her sound shallow and self-centered, and maybe a little ditsy. I could tell that she really did care about Sonic, even if she changed the subject upon the mention of his name. She did a bad job of hiding her feelings when we talked. She would blush when I said his name, or she would stare off into space.  
That was so long ago, but it seems like yesterday to me. We talked so much, that I wasn't afraid of the thunder that day. "Finally!" exclaimed Sonic, as we reached the restaurant. I blinked my eyes as my mind returned back to the present-day as my focus returned back to Sonic and satisfying my stomach. We stood outside the fast food restaurant for what seemed like forever. I could smell the aroma of burgers sizzling with onions being cooked in their own fat, and the smell of all those mini-pies cooking in the oven. I think it was apple pie, maybe pumpkin, or could it be a mint chocolate pie. I hope it is mint. I just love minty things. I took another whiff and went into a trance. I had died and went to food heaven. Sonic, looked at me and laughed as he noticed I was drooling like a complete fool. "Better get you bucket for Christmas if you're gonna do that, Lil' Bro." I snapped out of my food trance and wiped my saliva covered mouth and chin, with my tails. "And, I'll get you some needles and thread" I replied with a smirk. "Needles and thread? Why would I need something like that?" asked a Sonic confused. I didn't say a word after that and just decided to go inside to refuel myself.  
  
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What am I doing? I can't believe I'm even going through with this. I don't know what I'd do if I find out that his true feelings for me are not what I hoped they would be. Will it be okay? Will we be able to remain friends? Were we even friends to begin with? Then why would he save me all the time? Did he do it just to be Mr. I'm So Cool and Brave? I closed my eyes for a spilt second as all these thoughts went through my mind. I placed my hand on my stomach. Obviously I was nervous about even knowing the truth. My heart began to race and my palms started to sweat. I felt as if I was having an acute panic attack. I took a few deep breathes and then opened my then looked at ground. I could just chicken out. If I didn't find out now, then will I have the guts to do it the next time around? I began to wipe my sweat covered palms against my dress and then took another deep breathe before walking again. I didn't know where my goal was hiding in Station Square or even if he was still here, all I knew was that I had to find him.  
I checked out all his regular stomping grounds. Places like the park where he would lay on the soft green grass and take a nap. Sometimes he would go to the skate park where he loved to watch the skateboarders practice their grinds and ollies, even going so far as performing his own type of stunts. I even checked the beach where he would either sit on rocks and watch the waves crash or just sit back in a beach chair enjoying the warm sun while drinking one of those tropical type drinks. Thinking to myself, I thought that I was starting to sound like a stalker, but then I reassured myself that I hadn't followed him around to any of these places while he was there. I was either invited by Tails, Knuckles, or even Shadow. Sometimes it would be just out of pure coincidence. I lowered my head down a bit. Sonic must think that I'm probably a stalker, or some craze nut job that definitely needs psychiatric help. How can I face him now, when I just realized this?  
I continued walking, feeling more depressed then ever before, as I returned to my search for the blue hedgehog that had captured my heart and attention. I couldn't help but frown and look at the sidewalk as I continued walking. A sudden cold chill managed to run my spine. Something bad was going to happen. I could feel it in my bones. I know everyone says you better watch out where you're going, but that's not what I did.  
Strong gusts of wind blew Amy's long pink spines into her eyes, making it nearly impossible to see anything clearly. She knew she should have stopped until the wind had settled a bit, but she was a girl on a mission, a mission of the heart. Amy just couldn't stop. She had to keep going, even if it meant that she walked into something or even someone.  
As I continued walking blind, what seemed to be out of no where, a heavy glass restaurant door with a black iron cast trim swung open and hit me straight in the face. I couldn't believe the intense pain I was feeling. My eyes were shut tightly as I tried rubbing my entire face. Normally people would scream when they felt pain, but I didn't. Even though it was intense, the pain just didn't the type of pain for me to cry about or even scream. I breathed through my nose, since for some reason I couldn't perform the action with my mouth. I smelled blood, my blood. Gently I let my fingers dance against the area between my upper lip and nose. It was indeed wet, and had a type of a metal odor coming from it. It was most likely the smell of iron from my blood.  
I soon fluttered my eyes open as I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Are. Are you ok?" My heart skipped a beat as I recognized that smooth sounding voice. "S.S.Sonic?" There he was looking at me, with what almost looked like smirk. If it was a smirk, why was he doing it? Was he happy that he hurt me, even though it could be seen by others as an accident, or was that something he thought would calm me down? I may never know. "I said are you ok Amy?" I couldn't help but nod my head. Words just didn't seem to form in my head, nor did my mouth wish to voice any at this point. Tails had stepped out of the restaurant to see why Sonic was standing where he was and not on his way home. He saw the two hedgehogs, hoping that Sonic would give Amy a chance and get to know her the way he did. Sonic just looked Amy over, seeing he had done any damage to her face. Amy's heart raced even more so when he touched her face just examine it. When he saw and felt that there was no damage to her face, he put his hand down. "You seem to be alright." mumbled Sonic as he turned around to leave.  
"Sonic! Wait! Wait, I need to ask you something." He turned around and looked at me, "What is it Amy? It better be another marriage proposal or trying to get me to date you." I shook my head and then looked him straight in those big green eyes of his. "Sonic, what do you think of me. Better yet, do you love me?" Sonic scratched the back of his spine filled head before saying a word to me. Sonic himself couldn't believe he was getting his big chance to tell Amy how he truly felt about her. "In all honesty Amy, I think of you as the shallowest creature on the face of the planet. I could never love you or think about loving you. Nor can or could we be friends. Hell, I rather be unassociated with you. I would prefer it if everyone stop thinking that you're my girl .You are truly useless to me, and to the rest of the population. You are nothing but a pest and a troublemaker. Sometimes I wish that you never existed in my life, but since you're here I wish you were gone. Then I could live the rest of my life knowing that a creature like you never existed." Sonic said, with a voice so firm and ice filled.  
His words were like daggers of ice piecing through her already fragile heart. Amy placed her hand against her chest. Her heart ached so much after everything Sonic had said. She could feel her legs starting to wobble as if they going to give way, forcing her to collapse to the ground. She tried to prepare herself for the worst, but this was something that she didn't even consider. This was truly devastating to her. How she wanted to cry, but she knew crying wouldn't make Sonic take back all the things he said. Probably nothing would or ever will. Amy's throat closed up as she tried to come up with a reply to what he said. She closed her eyes tightly again and then reopened them. Though she was terribly heartbroken and just wanted to die after finding out the truth, Amy in a calm manner managed to muster up enough strength to open her mouth, "Sonic, if that is what you truly wish, then consider your wish granted. All I wanted in life was you. I wanted you to be healthy. I wanted you to be loved by your friends. Most of all, I wanted nothing more but to know that you're truly happy." Sonic couldn't believe what he was hearing, nor could Tails.  
Tails had always thought Sonic would eventually warm up to Amy, but what he said to her was proof enough that day was never going to happen. What surprised the three of them was what happened next. Amy, purely out of character, took one of her hands off of her chest and with all of her strength poured into that one hand, slapped Sonic on the side of his face leaving a deep scratch as proof of what she done. She placed the hand that she hit him with against her mouth to cover up the O shaped she had formed. Backing away she watched as Sonic placed his hand against his sore and now bloody cheek. He too couldn't believe what happened. He kept starring at Amy. Amy's body began to shake and her hands began to clench. She could feel her heart pounding and she was breathing heavily. Amy was on the verge of having an anxiety attack!  
Amy didn't want Tails to her like this. She thought something like this would scare the young kitsune. Trying so very hard to hide her symptoms, she looked down towards her shoes and slowly walked backwards. She couldn't even bare to watch Sonic's facial expression. Then she turned around and ran away as if she was running for what seem like dear life itself. A great deal of anger could be seen on Sonic's face, long after Amy had disappeared from sight. Tails just starred at him. He wanted to say something to his hero but couldn't. How could he? He still couldn't believe that the two people he had cared about as family, no longer wanted anything to do with other. It was if he was his witnessing his "parents'' divorcing.  
  
Sonic soon began to growl as her turned his back to the direction that Amy went. "I wish something truly bad happens to her. I don't care what it is or how it happens. I wish it and wish it comes true" said Sonic, pissed off at this point before he sped off to blow off steam. 


	3. Ultimate Decisions and No Regrets

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.  
  
Sonic- 18 years  
  
Amy- 16 years  
  
Tails- 13 years  
  
Knuckles- 20 years  
  
Shadow- 19 years  
  
Cream- 9 years  
  
Rouge- 22 years  
  
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Chapter 3: Ultimate Decisions and No Regrets  
  
The summer night grew much colder than many had believed it would. Though it was a refreshing change from a regular hot and muggy night, something just wasn't right. This had to be one of the strangest phenomena to occur since recorded time.  
There was pain and heartache in the chilly air. It just wasn't normal for this to happen during the summer. Summer was a time for finding love, not losing it or feeling pain of never attaining it from the one you love.  
My chest was hurting from the emotional stress I had placed on my heart. The pain I felt in my heart was unbearable. There had to be some way to make it go away. I never thought pain like this existed. Some broken hearted people turn to alcohol or drugs to drown out their pain and sorrow. Since I was not a fan of either, I decided to stop by a local deli on my way home. The deli was somewhat small and had a foreign theme to it. It carried many things you couldn't buy at a regular market. They had so many things from different countries in each isle. There was coconut water, melon soda, and some sort of sugar cane drink in the drink isle. They had different types of candy that I never thought could exist. Things like milk candy, grape jelly filled marshmallows, and fruit drops with flavors I never knew could taste so good. Though candy was sweet, I needed something sweeter to soothe my aching heart and return my sweetness. I wandered around until I came to the frozen food isle. I stuck my hand into a case filled with cartons of ice cream. I took two, two gallon cartons out and sighed as I looked at them. The sweetest thing I could find was fudge sundae and triple mint chocolate chucks with cookie dough inside. I let out another heavy sigh before making my way up to the pay counter. I slowly took out a twenty dollar bill and paid the clerk, then left the place without collecting my change. I bet the clerk was happy to have such a nice tip. I just couldn't spend another second in public. I felt as if everyone was laughing at me now. Laughing at what a fool I was for even attempting to start a relationship with someone way out of my league.  
I always had some idea of how he felt about me, but I just didn't want to believe it. How could I be so naïve as to think he could ever love me? Not only could he never love me, he didn't want me as a friend. After all the things I did to get his attention, it just blew up in my face. I tried my best to impress him, by acting like those girls that always hung around and worship him. I just don't get it, why didn't it work? I acted just like they did. Maybe I'm not pretty enough. Maybe I'm unattractive. Maybe I'm boring. That's probably it. That's the reason why no one wants to love me. This had to be the reason.  
Tears stung my eyes as I reached my apartment. I had already unlocked my door and closed it, when I collapsed onto the soft white carpet crying my heart out. It hurt me so much to know that my first love, my only love didn't love me at all. I felt so embarrassed and humiliated to find out in a public setting. I just had to find him, but I was hoping it would be something joyous, not something hurtful. I wiped some of my tears with the back of my hand and sniffed back some of the mucus in my nose before it began to run. I grab the plastic shopping bag filled with the two cartons of ice cream and walked in a defeated manner to my bedroom.  
I looked into my room before entering it. My room is just a simple bedroom; there was nothing special about it. I had a firm queen size bed with somewhat soft pillows. An old quilt covered the bed; it gave it a cozy feeling. On my dresser were bottles of perfume that I had believed would turn my love to mush. Next to the bottles were my hair brush and some various hair ornaments. I didn't believe in makeup, so I bothered never to buy the stuff. I sighed before looking at my night stand. Resting on top of it was a group picture of everyone. It was the only picture I had of him. He would never let me take his picture, nor would he let me pose with just him. This was the only time I could get a picture with him. Shadow had asked for a picture of all of his new friends, and gave me a copy of it as his way of thanking me for helping him understand Maria's last wish.  
Looking at it made me even sadder. I walked toward it and laid it face down, before I sat down on the bed. I didn't bother to turn on any light. Didn't want to let anyone know I was home. Everyone knew I had one light that remained on all night. A part of me was still afraid of the dark. Sixteen year olds are not supposed to be afraid of such childish things. Hell, I still kept a diary. Maybe that was another one of my problems. I was acting like a child. Only a child chases a dream. Adults just lose the fact that their dream can never be attained.  
I picked up the carton of fudge sundae and began eating it. It was sweet, but I still felt bad. Whenever I was sad my parents would try to cheer me up with ice cream as a child. It always worked, but it wasn't working now. Eating it reminded me of home. I started to remember how life was at home when I was a child. I was a lot happier before Eggman and Sonic arrived into my life. Little Planet in my memories was so beautiful before Eggman tainted it with his evil. I was five when I first meet Sonic. He came to my home planet in order to stop the evil doctor from turning my home into an armada planet and stop him from stealing our sacred treasure.the time stones. When I first saw him I knew he was the one for me. Even when he saved me from Eggman and Metal Sonic my love for him grew stronger. Many would see my actions as something someone would do when a creature like Sonic would save them. They call it hero worship, but I told them it was love.  
Since that day I haven't seen my parents. Sonic took me from Little Planet and left me stranded on the main planet. I didn't miss them on that day, because I was with him. I thought that he wanted me too. I miss them now though. They were always there for me and we missed out on so much together. Things that I don't know can be repeated again. I can never live over the time I missed with them since living here. Come to think of it, they probably think that I'm dead. I wouldn't even blame my own parents for hating me, even though people say that parents can never hate their own child.  
I doubt that I know what love is now. My entire life revolved around him and made me a slave to it. Maybe it would be better if I made Sonic happy and granted his wishes. I tried to get another scoop of ice cream but I had hit the bottom of the carton. I guess that I was so lost in thought that I didn't even know the carton was empty, nor did I even had the chance to enjoy it.  
Looking inside the empty thing made me cry again. Something that was once full of such sweetness is now empty. I could relate to this empty carton. I felt as if Sonic had sucked out all my sweetness, just like I had did to this ice cream carton. I still had one more carton left sitting next to me on the bed. Opening the lid I couldn't help but stare at it's green color. The same green like his eyes. They were the same green eyes that stared into my own eyes and into my heart. So cold and cruel were those eyes with no regrets of what they were doing when they sucked my heart out. I never thought that I could hate anyone other than Eggman, but I did now and it was Sonic the Hedgehog.  
All my feelings for him melted away like the ice cream inside this carton I was holding in my hands. I gritted my teeth as I got off my bed still holding that carton of triple mint chocolate chip and opened my bedroom window. The cold air felt so good against my face once it hit me. My eyes had long since been dried when I felt another gust of cold air. The ice cream carton still in my hands and my anger still rising, that I threw the damn thing out the window. In the same manner that I wanted to do to that so called loser of a hedgehog. He is nothing to me now, just like how I am nothing to him. They way it should have been in the beginning.  
  
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Didn't even know she could hit that hard. Technically I did, but she always did the hitting with her hammer. She asked for the honest truth of what I thought about her, I just didn't think she'd react that way. I always thought that if I told the truth that she would be okay with it. Never in my dreams did I think I would ever hurt her feelings. Amy was just a fan girl to me. Someone who just worshiped the very ground I walked upon. Always saw her as someone with a crush on their hero or idol that they would grow out of. Besides I never did like those crazy fan girl types. If I was going to be interested with the opposite sex, I rather be in love with someone who I could be comfortable with. Someone who is true to themselves, not someone who tries to be someone they're not. That's the kind of girl for me. Wish I could find her. Just wish she existed. To be truthful, I really don't like the fan girls. They seem so phony. They don't care about me, just want to be seen and elevate their popularity. I hate when people use me. I bet that's what Amy was planning from the beginning. I shivered for a bit. It was indeed getting colder, but this shiver was feeling as if something bad just happened. I rubbed my hands against my arm to get my blood flowing. I guess what I said was hurtful. She didn't deserve that, no one deserved those hurtful words. I can't believe I said I didn't want her to exist. I looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds moving in. What was I thinking, this is Amy Rose here. Why should I be nice to her? All she has done is given me grief. Why should I even apologize to a flake like her? I wish I could find the girl in my dream. She's always clouded in darkness when I dream. When I get near her I wake up or she gets farther away from me. No matter how fast I run, or tell her to stop, she keeps slipping away from my reach. I want to be with her and only her. I feel as if she's real and doesn't just exist in my dreams. Then why can't I get this feeling in the depths of my stomach that I've lost her for good, maybe even forever. I let out a sigh and thought about earlier tonight again. I thought of Tails and how my attitude made him feel. I better go see if he's ok. He really didn't need to see all that. He's just a kid for crying out loud. Just don't know how to apologize for something like this. Never was good in that department and it looks like it would have to wait till tomorrow. I yawned before I started on my way home. Tomorrow seems like everything will be better. 


	4. Delays and Moving on

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.  
  
Sonic- 18 years  
  
Amy- 16 years  
  
Tails- 13 years  
  
Knuckles- 20 years  
  
Shadow- 19 years  
  
Cream- 9 years  
  
Rouge- 22 years  
  
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Chapter 4: Delays and Moving On  
  
Seven days had passed after the incident in front of that fast food restaurant. No one had heard from either Sonic or Amy, nor had they seen them. Everyone had thought that Sonic was being stubborn and that Amy had decided to distract herself with what she did best in any situation ... shopping. Everyone knew that shopping took her mind off of things that made her depressed. But still all this avoidance had gone long enough and everyone had enough. Shadow, Knuckles and even Rouge thought it was about time for an intervention. Tails didn't really want to have any part of it, but Rouge with her sly feminine ways dragged him into the entire scheme.  
All that Tails wanted to do was tinker with his machines and nothing more. It was more relaxing for him to work on his machines when it came to moments like this. It was his version of running or shopping. Cream would come by and try to cheer him up, though she tried her hardest, she was no Amy. He was still mad at Sonic, but that didn't even compare to how he was more concerned about Amy. He hadn't seen her about the city in days. If Sonic didn't give a rat's ass about her, that doesn't mean that he should too! She was the sunshine in everyone's life. Without her, the world itself just seemed cold and dark, almost lifeless.  
Shadow and Knuckles had seen Amy about two days before, but each one never approached her. They were in a rush to catch a movie that was starting in five minutes and didn't want to stop for anything. Both had thought she was busy from the way she was carrying bags of items around town. They had thought she was shopping to get her mind off things, but the bags she was carrying her things in were kind of old with many creases in it. Nothing like a bag you'd get from a store after buying something. But they shook it off as nothing and went on their way.  
Rouge had stopped by her apartment during that same day and knocked on the door but had not gotten a response. She was concerned about the pink hedgehog and thought that she should check up on her. Rouge knew it was late for her to be shopping since all the shops would be closed at that hour, so she decided to walk outside the apartment and fly up to Amy's balcony. She tapped on the glass door and still did not get a response. She then tried to take a peak inside the apartment, but to no avail. The entire place was dark, and the blinds made it impossible to make anything out. She could have sworn that she didn't see any sign of furniture inside. Rouge like the others just shrugged this off, and came up with the valid reason that the blinds were in the way. Before she vaulted off the balcony and into the night sky she noticed a ripped piece of a photograph that danced around the floor of the balcony and picked it up. She looked at it and noticed it was a picture of Sonic that had been ripped from what seemed to have been a group photo. Rouge stuffed the wayward piece into her bosom and flew off.  
  
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Sonic let out a heavy sighed each time he stopped in front of Amy's apartment. He wanted to apologize to her, just so that everyone wouldn't be sore with him anymore. During that entire seven days, Sonic never went to apologize to her. It was as if something was holding him back. He just couldn't see how this was his fault. She wanted an answer and he gave it to her. It was straight forward, plain and simple to anyone. Why couldn't anyone understand that? She got her answer, so why was everyone mad at him? Why did he feel like crud? Why did he feel he lost something important to him?  
He had always made fun of her. He had always told her off. So why was this any different then before? All this thinking made his head hurt as he looked toward Amy's window. He never saw it dark through that window before. It always gave off an inviting look at night, no matter at what hour it was at night. It just seemed very strange not to see it lit up, that Sonic took a deep breathe and swallowed his pride and actually walked up the stairs leading up to Amy's apartment. Like Rouge, he too knocked on the door but unlike Rouge, he called to her. "Amy, open up! We need to talk! Come on, let me in already! Amy!?" Sonic continued to bang on the door calling to her. He was expecting her to leap from whatever she was doing and rip the hinges off the door just to see him. He gave another good swift knock on the door, still he got no answer. He became concerned almost worried about the thorn in his side.  
Sonic made his hand into a fist and gently tapped it on the door in lighting fast motion. The vibration from this action caused the lock to jimmy open the door a crack. He stopped the fast tapping, and then he slowly opened the door. This would be his first time entering her apartment, so he didn't know what to expect but he felt he had some kind of idea. It was dark inside the place from what he could see as he walked over the threshold. There was no moonlight shinning into the place. The blinds had done their job perfectly. He felt the wall in search of light switch. After what seemed like a lifetime, Sonic felt a light switch and flipped it on. He wasn't prepared to what he would see. He didn't know what to feel, he couldn't believe this was actually happening. She was gone. All her stuff was gone. There was no furniture or paintings on the wall. He checked the bedroom and found nothing inside. The bathroom was also cleared out of the usual things people would keep inside. It was as if no one had ever lived there at all.  
Amy had granted his wish. She had followed through. Her apartment was like she never existed in life. Now she would never bother, irritate, disgust, or annoy the blue hero again. It was a dream too good to be true. She was finally out of his life, and he couldn't be any happier or was he? For once in his, Sonic felt as if everything was going to be alright. He backtracked to the front door of the apartment and took one last look at the emptiness of the place. He let out a sigh of happiness as he shut off the lights and closed the door behind him for what seemed like the last time.  
  
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About five days before, Amy had visited a local second hand store. She wanted to leave as soon as possible and knew that moving her furniture would a hassle and very costly. She also wanted to get rid of any memory of Station Square and Sonic that she owned. So she decided to sell her furniture to a second hand store, her clothes she gave away to charity. If she had advertised a moving sale, then everyone would know causing her to lose her nerve. So she went on living in Station Square for the remainder of her final days as if nothing was out of the ordinary. She kept her usual appearances on the street, so that people wouldn't get too suspicious. Amy was a bit concerned when she went into the second hand store or to a religious thrift store. It was kind of out of the ordinary for her to even be there. Everyone had known her to buy the latest fashions, or the newest products. People would get wise if they saw her in these places. Oddly enough, it seemed no body gave a damn what she did. This sort of made her feel empty inside. Had she truly made a 360 when she decided to pretended to be a fan girl to get Sonic's attention? She looked into mirror inside the thrift store. She didn't even recognize her real self in the mirror anymore. Amy was no longer the original girl she was before Sonic. She barely knew who or what she was now. Was she this fan girl or a regular girl? Amy was now starting to believe that she was this so called fan girl. This was making her a little nauseous. She felt so confused that she ran out of that store crying. She couldn't stand staying another second in Station Square, knowing the fact that Sonic was still around. It hurt too much knowing that he could be anywhere in the city, even if it meant that the next second he could walking around the corner or from outside a store. The pain in her chest was great, but not as much as the hate she now developed for him. Could anyone forgive another person in a situation that she was in a few days ago? She knew she surely could never forgive him. He had hurt her so many times, that her heart was beyond repair  
If he had thought that she would forgive him for what he said to her, he was dead wrong. Amy knew that this time there would be no apologies from that blue hedgehog. To even think he would, would be a waste of time and energy on her part. She gave him her heart in her hand, and all he did was throw it on the ground and spit on it. She was truly a loser. A loser for ever believing he could ever love her back.  
  
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On the seventh day Rouge, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow had arranged to meet Sonic at a local diner for lunch. The quad had already ordered by the time Sonic had arrived. Sonic grabbed a chair and placed it by his friend's booth. They all turned their heads and gave him a cold glare. The hedgehog never had seen such expressions on his friend's faces. Shadow was the first one to open his mouth. It was calm sounding, even though his face told otherwise. He starred right into Sonic's emerald green eyes "How can you be so heartless? Sure, she can be bothersome, but she really likes you and she's our friend. I know that I don't have much experience with friendships, but what I have learned from watching is that you Sonic have no idea what pain you cause to someone close to you, even if you don't consider them as close."  
The whole table remained silent for a few moments before Tails had the courage to speak up. "Sonic, I know that you mean well, but sometimes the things you do have a domino effect. Look at what's happening now. Everyone is being effected, even you." What they said sort of hit Sonic a bit in the gut. He never thought that his actions would affect everyone. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry if I had hurt you guys, but she had asked for the truth. She wanted it and I gave it to her. I probably would have made it worse if I lied to her. Is that what you guys wanted me to do?" There was silence again at that booth. It was kind of eerie to be sitting in a busy place like with people talking and music going in the background to have one place in the entire establishment dead silent.  
Sonic got up from his chair and walked out the door. He didn't saw goodbye, he didn't say anything at all. He just got up put his chair back where he got it, and went out the door. Sonic didn't know where he was going, but it had better be someplace far away from his friends. Some place where he could gather his thoughts. He wasn't mad at his friends for what they said to him. They just helped open up his mind.  
He kicked a stone as he walked down the sidewalk towards the park. Maybe he was jerk to Amy that day. He should have put his words into a somewhat nicer way. Something that would get his point across, yet wouldn't cause anyone pain. He thought about going to see her at her apartment and make amends. That's the least he could do. But why was it so hard for him to see her and apologize. He wanted to... he so wanted to, but something seemed to be blocking him.  
During that same moment a young female hedgehog was seen making her way onto a bus out of town. She carried only a small back pack and nothing more. She walked down the aisle of the bus to a seat by the window. She took a deep breath and held it for a bit before letting it out again. This would be the last time she would see Station Square again. She starred long and hard out the window as the driver started the bus' engine. For the first time in her life, Amy didn't know what would be happening next. As long she was gone and away from the pain everything she felt would be better. Once Station Square could no longer be seen in the distance, Amy turned her head forward for a new and hopeful future. Goodbye Sonic and good riddance was all that went through her mind. 


	5. New Horizons and Forgotten Past

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.  
  
Sonic- 18 years  
  
Amy- 16 years  
  
Tails- 13 years  
  
Knuckles- 20 years  
  
Shadow- 19 years  
  
Cream- 9 years  
  
Rouge- 22 years  
  
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Chapter 5: New Horizons and Forgotten Past  
  
It was five in the morning when Amy was jolted awake from hitting her head on the bus window. The bus had hit a pot hole on the interstate caused from a snow storm that had hit the area last month. She was on that bus for about a week now, and was enjoying herself quite well. She yawned and rubbed her eyes to eliminate the last sign of sleep from them. Amy didn't just want to get to a new place immediately, she needed to find herself again and thought the best way was to see the country.  
The moment that Amy stretched her arms and let out another yawn, she was able to witness the sunrise over the horizon. It was a sight to see from where she was seated. All the time she had spent on that bus, this truly had to be the first time that she had witness a sunrise on the ride to her new home. She had definitely seen many sunrises in her day, but this one was indeed very different. It gave off a feeling that everything was going to be ok from now on. Not once on her exodus did she ever think of Sonic the hedgehog. Sure, she thought about her friends while on her trip but that blue hedgehog that she had once loved with all her heart and soul was dead to her.  
Amy turned her head to the left and looked out the window. For a place that was located in north eastern part of the country it sure looked like a dessert, but it was common beach side property for an island like this. Then again this was her first time traveling to this part of the country. Most of her life was spent on Little Planet or in Station Square.  
The bus traveled due east on part of the highway the locals called "The Stretch", but to the tourists it was called Napeague Highway. Wasn't that much of a highway once you seen it... only one lane on each side with the maximum speed of fifty-five. There was a fifteen minute interval between the two connecting towns of Amagansett and Montauk, her soon to be new home that Amy was sitting on the edge of her seat with anticipation. Amy could tell a lot from looking at photographs or pictures of certain places, people, or things. The photographs she had acquired from one of the bus' stopovers showed revealed a place that looked like it was one of those sleepy towns where everyone knew each other and was only busy in the summer. Still the place was far enough out of the way considering that it was at the end of the island, but it had that edge of the world distance for Amy.  
Montauk is one of those old fishing villages that contain a lot of history. In fact part of the Revolution took place in that area. The second you enter the village, you'll a small family owned supermarket that is located by one of the many beaches in the area. There are many beach motels and restaurants in the area. Many of them named after the area, local Native American language, or things that have to do with the sea. There is an old fashion five and ten store, and next to it is a pancake house. There is a gazebo in the village common, where all the buses pick up their passengers. In the fall the roads that lead around the common is closed down for a fall festival, with clam chowder competitions, games, music, barbeques, and fun. Further up there is a farmer's market and far across is an old church that has been around since the first settlers came. If you continued even further, on your left you would see one of the first ranches to be established in the country. Today it's used for teaching horseback riding, open field concerts, and history lessons. At the very end of the road there was the lighthouse. It stood there serene on a cliff keeping ships safe with its angelic light.  
The bus had made the final stop of the trip in front of the local elementary school. Amy got off the bus and collected a black nylon duffle- bag that she had put what she had left of her clothes. She didn't know where she was going to stay yet, but as long it nice and clean and affordable. Amy walked towards the inner part of the village, where she walked into a deli and picked a cream cheese onion bagel, and cup of Irish Crème coffee. As she was leaving, she picked up a copy of one of the free local newspapers. She took her things and walked across to the empty gazebo in the common to have her breakfast and read the paper.  
Amy enjoyed reading this particular newspaper. Not because it was a free one, but it had nothing in it about murders, or useless information that other papers out. It dealt with local matters. It talked about what the schools were up to, politics, happenings, and it was filled with a lot of insight. She took another sip of her coffee and flipped to the want ads hoping to find at least a decent job that she was qualified for. She looked all over the section and almost found nothing suited for her. The ads paid well, but they were looking for assistants who had cars, landscapers, electricians, or plumbers. She almost gave up hope when she saw the last ad almost hidden in the news print. It called for someone to be the local lighthouse keeper, someone who can maintain museum portion since the light had automated by the local Coast Guard in 1987. The ad asked for those interested to report to the Montauk Chamber of Commerce for more information. If she could get the job then Amy would have a place to stay and a job. Lucky for her the Chamber of Commerce was across the common. It was so close but felt so far for her. Amy had butterflies in her stomach, just thinking about the entire thought of actually being here and starting a new life scared her. She took another sip of her coffee and a deep breathe and made her way across the street to the Chamber of Commerce.  
  
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Station Square was still the same busy metropolis that it was long before Amy Rose had lived and left the place. Life still went on as normal with or without Amy's existence. The mail carriers were still delivering the mail; children still went on going to school, even if it wasn't their favorite thing to do in the world, and even the ocean waves still churned.  
It was noon by the time anyone had seen or heard from Sonic. From the looks of things, it had seemed that nothing was wrong or out of the ordinary with him, he was still his carefree self. Sonic was playing the part of someone who had no feels whatsoever that he had done something wrong. He acted as if the events that took place never occurred. That he owned the entire world in the palm of his hand.  
Tails had kept himself busy with his mechanical inventions as well as repairing a few things for the Station Square populace. Not only did he get a kick out of tinkering here and tinkering there, he loved the fact that the money he got from the repair work he did for the people of Station Square not only paid the bills and funded his love of mechanical inventions, but he got to keep his mind occupied. He missed his "sister/mother", but he didn't want to admit it to Sonic or show that he did. Sonic probably would think that he was some sort of traitor, and would want nothing to do with him anymore. Tails knew better than to think that. Sonic had never turned his back on him once, so why would he ever think about such a silly thing. Even if Amy was no longer present in Station Square, he wanted to show Sonic that he was neutral even though he and the rest of their friends were on Amy's side.  
A part of Tails was deeply hurt and mad with Amy. She didn't even bother to say goodbye or at least have the galls to tell him or the others, excluding Sonic, where she was going. Sonic, in a deadpan expression, had told everyone two days later that he had found her apartment barren and that she kept her promise and had left the city. Tails and the others didn't want to believe him or the fact that she had left them and the city. Sonic's expression burned into Tails' mind for the past few weeks. No remorse or expression on his face. He seemed that he could less about her or what she did or became of her life.  
It just wasn't like her to leave after one of Sonic's normal put downs, but then again that day was a turning point for Amy and for us. What I don't get is why did Sonic wait two days to tell them that she was gone? I would have suspected that the very first thing he would do would be running through the streets of Station Square chanting that she was gone and he was finally free of her troublesome nature. But he just didn't do that. Was he hiding the fact that he actually missed her? That he was regretting what he said to her? I doubted that idea many times, over and over again in my head since I had come to what seem like terms about Amy's sudden departure.  
Tails was laying on his back on padded dolly that he used when working underneath vehicles, such as the Tornado for example, when he dropped his wrench and cussed out loud, when he noticed that he had tightened the wrong bolts together on one of the add-on slots on the Tornado. He was trying his hardest to add another fuel case to plane, but he just couldn't think clearly. Even if he tried his hardest to keep his mind off of Sonic and Amy, he just couldn't. They were still very much his only family, and he loved them very much.  
He lost his train of thought again when he heard a knock at his workshop door. Tails decided that it would be a good idea to give his mechanical tinkering a long deserved and needed rest for awhile. He rolled the dolly he was laying on from under the Tornado and took a dirty orange rag from the back pocket of his denim blue coveralls. His paws were covered in the black oil and grease from the transforming airplane. The muck gave off how much he loved to work on his creations or any type of mechanical object. Tails considered every dirty rag, callous, and blister as a mark of honor of his love of tinkering. The knocking on the door became rougher. It was as if someone or something was trying to break the door down. Tails got up and quickly walked over to his work to slather his paws in a goopy cleaning agent that removed motor oil and paint like it was the cheapest of the cheap products. He then walked to the door as the knocking continued, but as he opened the door no one was their. He stuck his head over the door's thresh and saw no one. The only thing he saw outside was palm trees and a few flicky birds. He kept starring outside when he felt something like a hand on his shoulder and then heard whispering from behind. "Seven days." His heart skipped a beat as he let out a yelp and then turned around with a horrified look on his face that soon melted into annoyance.  
Shadow and Knuckles were standing in front of him with wide grins on their faces. The two of them thought it would be entertaining to give Tails a near death experience. The only thing was they didn't know that the only scary movie that freaked Tails out was Ringu. Tails had seen the remake of the movie, but it was nothing in compairence to the original. The original played more on a psychological scale then the remake, and those nails and eyes gave him the crepts. Tails shuddered the thought out of his mind.  
"We got tired of waiting so we decided to play a prank on you, oh and check up on you." said Knuckles as his grin faded. Shadow's grin still remained as Tails was flabbergasted as to how they got in. The first that came to mind was Chaos Control. That had to be it, it was the only conclusion that he came up with. Shadow sensed that Tails was trying too hard on figuring out how they got into his workshop, so before the kitsune had a melt down Shadow simply pointed to the hanger door that was wide open. "You should be more careful next time" quirked Shadow as he ruffed up the fur on the young kitsune's head. Tails just nodded his head as he showed his guests to his work bench. "I would have baked some cookies and made tea for you guys, but as you I simply didn't have the time", the three of them laughed at Tails remark. Then there was silence as they remembered Amy.  
Whenever someone came by to her apartment for a visit, there would always be homemade cookies that were freshly made that day sitting in the cookie jar, or a cake on the kitchen counter that she had just finished icing and decorated, sometimes even a pie cooling on the windowsill. Shadow remembered one hot summer day that he had stopped by to hide from the scorching heat and humidity. H e was overheated, his tongue dry like a cartoon dessert, and he felt faint and dizzy. It had to be a pain on day like this and his fur color walking hand in hand. Amy had kindly given him a very small cup of freshly made strawberry banana ice cream inside a very decorative paper cup. He licked his lips as he remembered the taste. It was so hot that day and Amy was concerned that if she had given him a bigger portion of the ice cream, that he would flip it up. She just couldn't bear being responsible making someone sick, and on these types of days you had to be careful on how much one packed away. She then poured him a glass of tall lemonade with ice she had crushed in the blender so that it would stay cold longer and would make Shadow feel cooler and bring his temperature down. It was indeed not a good day to have black fur or even dark fur, but she made him and anyone else appear and feel like royalty.  
Shadow returned back to a reality where Amy, who he saw as his little sister, no longer existed. Knuckles looked at Shadow and gave him a light playful punch in the arm. He had a close warrior's bond with Shadow. Knuckles was probably the only person who could relate to Shadow. Both of them were alone in beginning and had no memory of their past or what they were meant for in life, until they meet Sonic, Amy, and Tails. They both gained what they were looking for...a family. A weird family when seen from a distance, but as one would get close enough they weren't any different.  
Tails laughed as he saw them play fight. It was nice to see something happy for once. It had been a long time since he or anyone of them felt happy. This was the first he had laughed since Amy had left and it felt like he almost forgotten how to or what it felt like to laugh. He almost forgot how to stop, before he ran out of air and began gasping for it. Shadow got him a paper bag that was on the table, but what he did know was that it was filled with a very old tuna sandwich. Tails blew into the bag and then inhaled, taking in the fumes of a very nasty smelling tuna sandwich that was his lunch...about fives months ago. His turned green as he threw up inside the bag.  
  
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Amy walked around the park grounds. It was not what she had expected it to be. She never thought of the place having paved parking lots, public bath rooms with pay phone standing out in front, or to even see a snack bar for the tourists. Amy was expecting for a lighthouse that she had seen used as many backdrops in many romance and dramatic movies that she had seen in her day. She never expected something like this. But it was different then the life she led in Station Square and she was going to stick with it to the bitter end. What was she thinking!? She didn't even know if she got the job yet!  
A part of he regretted lying on part of her application and again during the interview inside the old light house. She felt like a complete idiot. She wanted a new start, but not like this. She went as far as lying about her name! It's not the first time that she lied about who she really was. She put up a false front just to get Sonic, but she regretted doing that too and wanted to so much as to purge those hurt filled memories far out of her mind.  
"Paloma! Paloma are you there!? Paloma" Two women were calling out a person's name far off in the distance. The women knew that some existed, but the name that was attached to them was not theirs. Amy had almost forgotten what she had chosen her new name to be. She was very lost in thought that she almost blew it. "Coming! I'm Coming" Amy walked back towards the entrance of the old lighthouse to where two old ladies from the historical society stood waiting for her and their answer. 


	6. Promises and Time

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.  
  
Sonic- 21 years  
  
Amy (Paloma)- 19 years  
  
Tails- 16 years  
  
Knuckles- 23 years  
  
Shadow- 22 years  
  
Cream- 12 years  
  
Rouge- 25 years

Chapter 6: Promises and Time

The cool ocean breeze rolled onto the sand and grass covered land. It was a great relief to finally feel the refreshing ocean breeze. All week there had been a heat wave. It was dry and made everyone in the area feel hot and sticky. The beaches were full and parking was no better during the summer months that open parking spaces became like a fairy tale. The once sleepy town now became a lively place to be once summer came around. All the restaurants were full of out of town customers, with some dressed in tacky floral shirts, cargo shorts, and sandals. Once in a while you could find someone from an old wealthy family strolling about the town in search of one of the newly built spas or local golf course.  
Paloma stood on the cliff facing the ocean in the direction of the coming breeze. She had removed her shoes her feet were tired after standing for so long on them. It just felt so very good to feel the warm beach sand against her feet, soothing her tired feet. It had been three years since the day she came to this town from Station Square. She had created a brand new life for herself from her shattered hopes and dreams. She had indeed made a lot of new friends, but they were nothing like her old friends. Once in a while she would pick up a newspaper from the local deli or supermarket, maybe even turn on the television and find one of her friends on it. She would get riled up if she saw anything about Sonic.  
Any picture she found of Sonic, she would tear up and burn it in a small fire in a sink. To this day she despised him for hurting her the way he did. Amy could still hear his ice filled words ringing in her ears each time she saw his shameless picture. She made a promise to herself that she would never love another person ever again. She just couldn't go on and live with the reality of getting hurt again. The phonies who claim they love her and then muck it all up by doing something to hurt her. Then again she was one. She barely loved herself anymore.  
Amy had hoped that her new life would be filled with great promises. She wanted to start over again and delete her past with Sonic, but that seemed nearly impossible. Whenever she would think about Tails or Shadow for example, thoughts of Sonic were not far from behind. She couldn't forget her friends, but it seemed she had to in order to forget about Sonic.  
Sonic the Hedgehog was the very first creature that she ever opened up to and would ever admire. Sonic the Hedgehog was the only creature that she would ever cause herself to wear her heart on her sleeve, and give her the strength to face her deepest of fears. Once he said all he wanted to say to her, it was as if he snatched all that she had dreamed away from her. He took away all of her hopes of having and making friends, of even trusting people. That also included the truly nice and kind ones.  
A fog horn blew off in the distance snapping Paloma from her trance. She looked at the watch on her wrist to see that her time was up and voices from a distance were calling for her to come join the party. She placed her black half inch heels on her feet and proceeded to walk back. She straightened her now long rose pink quills to make herself more presentable before she made her way back to the refreshment table where she would pick up her serving tray again and serve the guest of this wedding party on the lighthouse grounds.  
The summers were always hectic and busy, but it was the best time to earn money for the winter months. Supporting oneself did get kind of costly, especially when there are bills to pay. It wasn't unusual if someone took on a second or third job, just to support themselves. This happened to be Paloma's third job that she did on her days off with a local catering company. The pay was okay and was under the table. This was how she earned her pocket money, and was also one less stress she had to worry about when the tax man cometh.  
When she used to live in Station Square, she would wait on tables or as cashier. She could get by then with holding down only one job, since the cost of living seemed like it was too good to be true. Now things were different, she no longer lived in Station Square. She lived in a place that only means of survival was counting on a heavy migration of tourists into her new home town. It was worth sometimes to know that when summer came around, that it was a chance to refuel one's savings for the long haul. Paloma was lucky to have a job period! Especially since she was lucky enough to find a year round job that gave her a place to sleep without any much of a worry of paying for utilities, things such as for telephone, water and heat. She never did get that job as the caretaker of the lighthouse. It would have been too good to be true if she did get it. The ladies that day had told her they wanted someone with historical knowledge, and she was under qualified for the position. They also didn't like the fact that she was a hedgehog, they never said that was one of the reason why they didn't hire her but you could tell that it was in their eyes it was.  
Paloma worked at a local yacht club that was located on Lake Montauk in the harbor area. The Montauk Yacht Club had 107 rooms for all who came to enjoy the area. It had two outdoor swimming pools as well as one swimming pool that was located indoors and was heated. They had a gym with weight room and nautilus equipment. They even had a sauna. Each room came with a bed of your size choosing, color cable TV, a coffee maker, hair dryer, refrigerator, iron, and ironing board. She worked there as a housekeeper and at night when her shift was over; she would work part-time in the club's restaurant as a hostess. It was a miracle that she got any sleep. It was even more of a miracle that she would wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next day. She did get extra sleep on her days off and during the off season.  
It was refreshing to her to mingle with different people, though she hated when any guy would try to pick her up. She was even more disgusted when married men who were dinning with their family tried picking her up. Her heart couldn't go through heartbreak, and she couldn't bring herself to date even if it meant that she may become "the other woman". She wasn't a slut, but some of her female co-workers were spreading rumors that she was one. They were jealous of her and how she treated everyone, especially the guys.

Station Square was hot and very humid for the past few weeks. Two summers have already come and went without much of a fuss. It just happened that this summer was disgustingly hot. Sure the thunderstorms would clear up the humidity, but you could always count on it coming back a few days later. Amy's old apartment had not been rented since the day she left. In fact the entire building had become condemned. The once cheery windows were bordered up. The front entrance had three planks that covered it, and the side entrance that led to the basement and into the building had a cast iron gate on it. If you looked up to the side of the building where Amy had once lived, the window that was in her bedroom was half boarded up and if you could get up to the old fire escape then you could notice that part of the window was broken. It was big enough to allow a person through it. Someone or something had removed it deliberately, considering the only way to get on that fire escape was to jump from the roof of one of the adjacent buildings, or fly, or even been born/acquire supper speed.  
It seemed that the rest of Amy's old friends had moved on with their lives. Knuckles and Rouge had become more then friends over the past three year and were now expecting their first offspring. They didn't care what it looked like, who it would look like, or even its gender. Just as long as it was a healthy and happy baby, that's all that mattered to them. Rouge still worked for the government and with her help Angel Island became government protected reserve, with Knuckles giving his final word as it's still acting guardian. This would ensure the island's safety as well as safety for the emerald itself.  
Amy had missed out on so many important events in the lives of her old friends. She had just cut them out of her life. Cream was growing up into lovely young doe rabbit, and had developed a crush on Tails. Her mother Vanilla thought it was just cute to see her little girl eyeing her first love. Tails on the other hand was trying to be just friends with her. He had learned his lesson long ago from watching how Sonic had treated Amy three years ago. That entire event was burned into his mind. He knew that eventually once Cream started high school that she would forget about him and move on with someone who was close to her own age.  
Shadow had created a new life for himself. He lived the way he wanted to live, and he lived for both Maria and himself. He had come along way since being awakened, and had learned many things about life. He lived alone in a studio apartment that was located close to culture section of Station Square. No one would have thought that Shadow was as deep as he was. He was the exact opposite of Sonic. Whatever Sonic disliked whether it was the ballet or the museums Shadow loved. It wasn't hard to believe that they were opposites. They were different kinds of hedgehogs. One had patience and the other had very itchy feet. But what made them same was their connection to the Robotnick family.  
He still hated Eggman for what he devoted his life to. It was hard to believe that he was related to his creator, Gerald. Sometimes he thought of them both like human version of him and Sonic. Amy was his Maria, and he would do anything to help her even protect her from harms way. If it wasn't for Amy, he would never have remembered Maria's true wish of making everyone happy.  
Shadow sat down on a black leather sofa that sat under an opened window. The breeze felt so very good and was quite a change from the standard weather that they had been getting recently. He couldn't help but to stick his head out of window to feel the blessed cold breeze. Shadow couldn't help but to stare out the window and towards the direction of the setting sun. He couldn't help but wonder about Sonic and what he had been up to in the past three years. Sure, he saw him everyday, but something was amiss. He seemed as if he was searching for something, but didn't know what it was. He would still go on with his carefree lifestyle and he seemed much happier since Amy was long gone, but Shadow couldn't help but wondered if Sonic was subconsciously hiding something.  
The first occurrence, that Shadow noticed, had taken place in Sonic's apartment about a year and half since Amy had left. He remembered a clear glass vase with pink roses in them when visiting Sonic. When he saw them and had ask Sonic about the new addition, he just shrugged it off by saying "I was tired of the everyday boredom of this place." Never did Shadow think that it was Sonic's subconscious trying to tell him something. The thought that Sonic had a subconscious was kind of funny for even Shadow to think about. Then again the roses could have been given to Sonic from one of the many girls he had been dating since Amy had left. Maybe it was a thank you for a good time on their date. Shadow just shook it off his mind and continued to watch the sunset till there was no longer color from the sun in the night sky.

Sonic still saved people like he always did and he would hang around all the cool hang outs, but he truly hated the V.I.P speech they would give him at every restaurant as a way to be grateful for all the time he saved the city and the world. They were just suck ups and ass kissers. Sometimes he wondered what if he wasn't a hero and was just an ordinary hedgehog. Would there be any difference from the way he was being treated now? It would be a logical guess that they would.  
In the past three years for Sonic the Hedgehog, everything went well but it just seemed to him to get dull at times. The same routine, day in and day out for the so called blue hero. In the beginning of the first year since Amy had left Station Square, Sonic couldn't help but look over his shoulder. It was odd not to have the cheerful pink hedgehog chasing him or trying to suffocate him with her powerful hugs. Sometimes he wondered how such a dainty creature could posse such strength. It was not that he missed her at the time it was more like that it was conditioned...something that he should expect from walking the streets of Station Square everyday. He even almost missed those words "Marry me Sonic!" Was he truly wrong to treat her the way he did all those years ago? She was asking for it and since he said I, his life seemed to change for the better. Or did it? Why did he feel like something was going to happen that would change his life even more then before? Why did he have a strange feeling in his stomach every single time it rain would pour on his face? Why did it seem he was constantly searching for something the moment he woke up? Was he going insane? Was it hidden guilt because of what he did or the fact of what his friends said about not getting to know her at all? Whatever it was, it was getting old pretty quick.


	7. Stability and Break Down

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.  
  
Sonic- 21 years  
  
Amy (Paloma)- 19 years  
  
Tails- 16 years  
  
Knuckles- 23 years  
  
Shadow- 22 years  
  
Cream- 12 years  
  
Rouge- 25 years

Chapter 7: Stability and Break Down

Winter had come to Station Square like it did every year. In all the years since anyone could remember, it had never snowed till now. The weather during the winter season felt like an autumn day. The snow blanketed the city and gave it a beautiful glow. The city's children loved the fact that they could finally experience a snow day. They had heard so many stories of how other kids on the east coast were able to have these snow days. Cream looked out her circular bedroom window that was facing the street. She and her mother had lived in the rural area of Station Square as far back as she could remember. Unlike Tails and the others, Cream attended school and enjoyed it quite well. She was a pacifist and didn't enjoy the idea of fighting as way to solve any matter. She considered knowledge as true power and with it; it could solve any matter without resorting to such uncalled for violence or pain.

She sighed a bit, the warmth of her breathe fogged up the window in front of her. She took her paw and mindlessly doodled on the condensation that was on the window. The doodled soon became a picture of someone she adored and looked up to in her past. They were long gone now, and Cream had not seen her in what seemed to her as an eternity. She never thought that she could hate a person as much as she did Amy. To Cream, Amy was like her big sister that she could do things with and talk to. Sure, there was her own mother, Vanilla, but there were some things that you couldn't discuss with a parent, even if that certain parent was your very own.

Cream felt uncomfortable about talking about boys with her mother. Maybe it was the fact that she never knew her father and had assumed that since her mother never remarried or dated that she better not take her advice on the subject matter. Her mother never mentioned much about her father. Not even if he was alive or not. She could even swear that her mother had sworn off men as a way of not getting hurt again. Was her father dead, or was he cad that ran off with another before she was born? Was she the cause for this? Cream shook her head in order to shake away these buried thoughts that she had collected over the years.

Cream let out another sigh and headed for the kitchen. She had been at the window long enough and was now starved, and the smell of whatever her mother had left for her to eat was mouth watering. She entered the warm kitchen and couldn't believe that by looking at the clock on the kitchen wall that she had been at that window of hers for about two hours. Time sure flies when you are contemplating your pre-teen angst. She turned in the direction of the intoxicating aroma, and drooled as she saw plate of sausage, fried eggs, and cheese on a Kaiser roll sitting there in front of her. Her mother as a Sunday tradition would make these things for her to have right after they came home from church. It was out of character for her mother to make this for her on her day off from school. Normally she would have a bowl of cereal or pancakes with fresh strawberries on the side and a glass of milk or juice to wash it down.

Something seemed suspicious, it had to be a sign that her mother was preparing to tell her something and this was her way to soften the blow. She couldn't think of anything that might make her mother act like this. She didn have a man in her life and her job at the local flower shop was great, and money wasn't really a problem. Cream hoped that it wasn't something that would take her away from Station Square. She just started to see Tails in a different light. Sure he was about four years older then her, but it didn't matter to her. Cream made sure that she wouldn't chase after him like Amy had done with Sonic years before, and unlike Sonic, Tails didn treat Cream as horrid as Sonic had treated Amy. Tails would smile at the small trinkets that she made or bought for him. He would ask her to hang out with him, but their relationship never went any further then that. She could tell that by the way he acted around her that he truly liked her, but was shy to admit it and the fact that he was four years older then her was no help. It wasn't some simple school girl crush, it was certainly love. She had grown up with that two-tailed kitsune, and knew everything about him and felt at total ease when with him. Cream felt that she could trust him with anything.

Cream licked her fingers, trying to get the last bit of crumbs off of her paws. Every time she would think of Tails, Sonic and Amy were somewhere around in her thoughts. She hated the fact that Amy was gone and not heard from. In all the time that she was gone and before then she had sided with Sonic on how she chased him. Even if she was to tell her that she was out of control with the chasing, Cream was afraid to admit it back then cause she knew that Amy would see her as clueless in the game of love.

Cream had never saw Sonic as the bad guy, then again she didn't know him as long as the others did. He was in her own view trying to make a statement about how he felt about Amy. Sonic obviously had no feelings for her what so ever. To think that Amy would act so childish as to not accepting what Sonic had to said to her. Even though they were hurtful, she had no right to slap the guy. Yeah it was mean that he said he wished she never existed, but Cream had attributed that to anger, and the fact that he probably didn't mean it.

Cream's ears perked up when she heard the main entrance door closed. She got up from her chair in the kitchen and walked into the living room where noise was coming. There she had found her mother with what looked like things that would be for a baby shower. Her mother smiled and motioned her daughter to come help her with decorations. Just then Cream remembered that her mother had wanted her to help with a baby shower that they were giving Rouge. Cream sighed thinking how it would be great if Amy was here to join in the fun, then she gave another sigh of relief at the fact that her mother was planning anything that would ruin her social life and anything else that she could think of at the moment.

Sonic watched the snowfall from atop of a school's jungle gym. The cold weather didn't really bother him that much, in fact he was born in a cold climate. It was when he was a little bit older that he had left for South Island, and became addicted to the warm climate. He still couldn't believe that it had been three years since Amy had left and what he had said to her didn't quite sink into his thick-headed skull yet. Sonic had dates with girls, but not what he was looking for in a lover. It was hard to believe that these girls would ever use him, and then hurt his feelings. He put his heart on his sleeve for them and they just threw it down and stomped on it. Who was he fooling, no girl on the entire planet would ever be honest with him. They were just using him and how he hated that.

At least he still could dream of her. He still dreamed the same dream of chasing a girl that was out of his reach and was surrounded in darkness. But in those years he had managed to get near her to grab her hand and even embrace her, but he could never see her face. He wanted to kiss her in his dream, but she would never allow it. "It can never be. You don't even know what love is or even how to love another who loves you", the girl would say each time in his dream. When he placed his hand on her face lovingly, she would back away and disappear, leaving her tears on his gloves. He would wake up crying in a somewhat familiar place, a place that wasn't his home. It freaked him out every time he woke up there. Was he sleep waking cause of guilt?

Sonic jumped off the jungle gym and headed back home, but he didn't make back. The snowfall was heavier and made visibility nearly impossible for him to navigate. So, he stopped in the only place he could...Amy's old apartment building. It was odd for him to stop there and find refuge, considering the fact that this building was no where near his. Being very careful, Sonic leaped onto the snow covered fence and then jumped onto the top of a neighboring condemned building and on to Amy's old fire escape. Sonic then wedged his way through the window entrance that he had made sometime ago. At least he thought he had made the entrance.

The inside of the apartment hadn't changed since he last saw it three years ago, when he went to go and seek her out. In the past months that he had mysteriously woken up in that place, he had never had a good look around.

It sure would have been a nice and warm place to visit or even lived in. The paint on the walls was cracking and pieces had fallen on the ground. He couldn't help imagine what this place would have looked like with all it's furnishing and sun shining into the windows. His friends had told him stories of how they had felt in Amy's apartment. They had always said they felt safe and wanted. That they could fall asleep on the couch in the living room, and how they could never bring themselves to leave. They had also said that Amy's kindness and love made all the difference. Sonic certainly missed out on a lot by ignoring her and treating her cruelly. In fact he was treating her the same way that the girls he was dating were treating him. He basically used Amy to get attention, and abused her by hurting her feelings. As far as he could remember when Amy was very young, and she tried to have a conversation with him for the very first time, he just pushed her aside and told her that he didn't like her type. Sonic hung his head low, he didn't know what her type was back then. All he could remember that for about two weeks he didn't hear from until the beginning of the third week and then the chasing began. Even then he never gave her chance. He had so many countless years to give her a chance and he sure did blew it.

Sonic felt so disgusted and ashamed with himself that the hero that everyone had thought was invincible started to break down and cry. He was in so much pain and he had caused so much pain to his friends and to another that they left because of him.

A gust of coldness engulfed his body and made him shiver for the first time in his life. Was it an omen of something bad was going to happen, Sonic couldn't care less at this point. He surveyed the room for a bit and fond an old quilt with it's color fading. He picked it up and wrapped it around his body. Sonic sniffed the blanket and took in scent from long ago that he almost forgotten about. It was Amy's scent. It was so natural and real that it made him cry even more till his tears lured him into a deep and restless sleep.


	8. Found and Lost

1Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.  
  
Sonic- 21 years  
  
Amy (Paloma)- 19 years  
  
Tails- 16 years  
  
Knuckles- 23 years  
  
Shadow- 22 years  
  
Cream- 12 years  
  
Rouge- 25 years

Chapter 8: Found and Lost

Her name used to be Latin for beloved, good-natured, brave, gracious, and it also meant loved by everyone. It was true that she lived up to what her name had meant, except for one. She wasn't loved by everyone. Someone hated her so much that he would go as far as hurting her and wishing for her to have never existed. Her new name was Spanish for dove, a bird used as a symbol for peace. Her outer appearance had changed greatly. She was no longer her natural pink color, but that of a soft lavender. It was a color of femininity, and it was a grown-up pink. Her quills were longer now and tied back in a pony tail, but her bangs were still the same. The green eyes she had that were an exact female opposite of his were now blue thanks to the magic of contact lenses.

Amy could not stand to look at herself in the mirror any longer with the way she once was. Whenever she did, she would hear his voice in her head tormenting and taunting her to the point of emotional distress. She would constantly get sick and the doctors she went to didn't know why she was sick. They all thought she was faking it, just someone who wanted attention and sympathy.

It was winter now, and the town which was once lively in the summer season had now died down. The snow started to fall during the early morning hours. Amy did not sleep at all in two days. She was deeply troubled and very lonely. There was nothing for her here in this town. Then again there was nothing for her back at Station Square either. No one wanted to be her friend or even go out with her. Her fellow female co-workers would call her ugly and talk about her behind her back.

They would spread vicious rumors about her, only because she did her job better then anyone there. They would say that she was a slut, a trollop, and a whore. There were a few guys over the summer season who had actually believed the rumors. Many had asked for the classic one night stands, that she had always turned them down on, and one tried to rape her. He wouldn't take "no" for an answer. When she was throwing out the trash late one Saturday night, she didn't even know that she was being watched or that someone was waiting for her. He was hiding behind an outdoor stairwell for her. He was obviously drunk, but that didn't seem to impair his judgment. He grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth. Then he dragged her towards the beach. Every now and then he pulled on her long quills just to make her behave, and tell her that no one would ever find her or come to her rescue. In her heart Amy knew that this was true. She went numb after what he said. In all the time she had spent there, she had a little thread of hope that Sonic would come find her and bring her back to Station Square, but that was just some childish fantasy that she would soon have to grow out of. Her would be rapist threw her to warm sandy ground, forcefully kissing her while ripping her uniform. If it wasn't for the fact that Marine Patrol was out combing the beach for teenagers drinking illegally, Amy's rapist would have taken away her virginity.

Amy let out a sigh of depression as she tried to forget about that summer night. No one from her job knew that she was gone, and none of them showed any concern for her when she came back the next day. Some even said that she deserved it, because they had believed in the rumors. She felt like dirt, and didn't know how to cope with how she felt. At times she thought of what her rapist had said to her about no one coming to find her, and hear the words that Sonic had said to her. Sonic was sure getting his wish, even if he wasn't here to witness or hear about it.

It had been three years and in that time, she never developed a social life. How could she when her co-workers made her feel like worthless scum. Her nights were lonesome and filled with nothing but reading as her only means of escape. She would read books of romantic tragedy and some full of sci-fi adventure. She remembered reading a book that was translated from Japanese. Its first chapter told of a romance between an emperor and woman from his court that he loved so very much that the emperor's wife and his consorts were deeply jealous of her. They did everything to hurt her, and the emperor stood by did nothing to stop it. Then one day the woman became sick from all the hatred and pain the women had for her that eventually she died from it. It is believed in the East and in some countries that a person's hatred or jealously can bring pain and suffering to the person it is aimed towards. Even if it would bring them to the brink of death in which they would finally be free.

Many times she had though of going back to Station Square. If she had still lived in Station Square then she would still be with her friends. But where were her friends when she was hurt? No one came to see her after the incident. No one comforted her and told her it was going to be okay. Were they really her friends, or did they just pretend to be because they knew she was a crybaby and a wimp from what they knew of her, or was this another part of Sonic's wish.

Amy got up from her bed and almost collapsed onto the soft white throw rug that laid by her bed. She braced herself against the nightstand, so that she could regain some of her strength. Her body was so weak now, that to her she felt like she was dying inside. Sometimes she wondered if anyone would care if she died. Would anyone be present at her own funeral, just to say "good bye" to her.

It was a week before Christmas and she thought it best to spend it somewhere else, maybe some place that was warm and sunny. Maybe she should go and spend it in Station Square. No one would ever recognize her in her state of being. They probably don't even remember her after three years, or even one day. Even if she would see Sonic back in Station Square again, she would be safe from any ice-filled words he would say to her. Even if she didn't love him anymore, his words would still hurt her.

Amy took a deep breath before heading towards the bedroom closet where her suitcase was kept. She opened the door and pulled out an old green second hand suitcase that she had purchased in a thrift store on one of her trips to Sag Harbor. It was a simple suitcase with wheels. She didn't have the strength to carry her duffle bag or even the suitcase by hand in her condition. She rolled the suitcase from the closet and then pulled it onto the bed. She coughed a bit before opening the suitcase. Her coughing caused her to sit down on the bed for a bit, before she could start packing.

When her strength returned again she slowly got up and made her way towards her dresser and pulled out any type of clothing that she might need back in Station Square. She didn't know that the weather back in Station Square had changed, to her she could remember it being nothing but warm during this time of the year. She had no idea that the weather had changed to a cold one.

As she finished packing, she looked herself over and noticed that she was still in her winter nightgown. She went towards her dresser again and pulled out some warm clothing. It was cold outside and she didn't want a bout of pneumonia to deal with. She then took her coat from the closet and put it on, another second hand item she bought. It certainly was warm and comfortable. She then made her way towards her bed and pulled her suitcase from the bed and rolled towards the door. Amy turned around and the room one last look. She knew that she'd be back, she just hope she would be well when she did.


	9. Attention Span and Escape

1Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.  
  
Sonic- 21 years  
  
Amy (Paloma)- 19 years  
  
Tails- 16 years  
  
Knuckles- 23 years  
  
Shadow- 22 years  
  
Cream- 12 years  
  
Rouge- 25 years

Chapter 9: Attention Span and Escape

They had all spent the night at Tails' workshop in the Mystic Ruins. The snow had fallen hard from the night before making it impossible for the trains to run or for any air flight to take place. Cream was the first to wake up the next morning. She went towards the window and gazed outside. Snow fall in the area was still new to her and she want to take as much of it in. She couldn't help but notice romantic aura the fallen snow had given to the area. She turned her head around and stared at Tails fast asleep. He looked like a he was a sleeping child. How she loved him so, but couldn't bring herself to tell him. She then turned her head toward Knuckles and Rouge sleeping close together and content. They would certainly love to play in the snow. That is if Rouge was pregnant. Cream was soon startled by Shadow who was now stirring from his restful sleep. If only Shadow could find his equal then he would be set for life. Someone who could finally help him get over Maria's death, but yet help him not to forget about her. After awhile of starring at Shadow, she then placed her gaze over at Sonic who seemed restless in his sleep. Who would sleep so soundly after consuming all that junk he ate last night. If only she knew what he was truly dreaming about. It had seemed to her that he was definitely dreaming about someone.

In the past three days, Sonic had spent a great deal with his friends as a group. He would for the first time in his life listen to the stories that they had to tell about Amy. He was most certainly surprised with the stories that they had told him about her. In all this time that he had assumed he had known her, he had never pictured her to be anything else but a fan-girl. Sonic had learned so much about her in those few days then he did in all his days when she was around him. All that he could do was hang his head like a dog in disgrace, and listen to their stories. He never knew about how she let Tails and Shadow into her apartment, and then took care of them as best she could. He had always assumed she was a shallow air-head. He laughed at Rouge's story of how they ended up inside a walk-in freezer wearing nothing but their bathing suits during one of the hottest days of the year. Knuckles story told them of how she would listen when someone like him needed a friend to talk to. It made Sonic's heart melt to know things like these. It even caused him greater pain when he thought of all the times she tried to help him or cheer him up, and how he would push her away from him.

To his friends it didn't look like that. Then again, they have never known Sonic to show any sort emotion for or towards Amy. There was that time on the Ark, but it was probably just something he would say considering he was the ideal hero and all. Sonic sometimes thought he was playing the part of a character in a play or movie. If only he could live in a world with no worries.

It seemed out of character to Sonic's friends that he would even ask about their memories of Amy or even listen. They wanted to assume that Sonic was finally realizing his error, but then again why now? Why didn't he get to know her when he had the chance to instead of getting to know her through their memories? It almost seemed disgusting to them. He never said a kind word about her and was always putting her down when she still lived in Station Square and after she had left. For some strange reason, everyone started to notice that Sonic hadn't talked about her in a negative or, if in a miracle, in a positive way. It was that of neutral tone from him. They didn't know about his experience in Amy's old apartment and how he had an emotional break down there. They didn't even know about the mystery girl in his dream. They had notice that Sonic was acting out of character as of late and were deeply concerned, but they didn't know how to go about and ask him about his change.

Everyone knew how Sonic was such a private person, and had his reasons for keeping things from people. It was just that they were his friends and they were worried about him. Shouldn't they be let into his life? Weren't they his friends? Sonic can be such a pain at times, thought Cream as she moved away from the window and towards the bathroom for a nice long hot shower. She was almost startled when Sonic shot-up from his sleep and looked directly at her. Cream had never seen Sonic this way before, that it was creeping her out. She wanted to scream for dear life, but couldn't muster the energy to do so. She just watched on in terror as this blue hedgehog that she once knew as Sonic, got off the couch and walked towards her in a trance; mouthing something inaudible, that Cream fell to her knees and closed her eyes wanting this moment to end. An eternity of moments went by as her closed eyes detected some sort of flash. Cream shot her eyes open to see that he was gone, but not without leaving scorch marks on the wooden floor.

Cream woke everyone up in the room with a loud scream. Tails vaulted off of the soft recliner he had spent the night in and placed his arms around Cream. He could feel her body shaking and the cold sweat running from her entire body. She tried to get up, but her legs just didn't seem to work. They felt like the heaviest metals that she had seen Tails' using many times in his work. Tails just picked her up and carried her to his bed, as a very pregnant Rouge came in with a damp cloth and some chamomile tea. All he could do for Cream was to stay by her side and comfort her as best he could, even if he didn't know what he was doing. It just killed him inside that his friend, family, and hero would be acting this way. Why didn't he intervene sooner when he noticed that Sonic was acting differently? Now he didn't know what to do to help him or even stop him from hurting the ones he loved. This all had to be a terrible, terrible dream that he wanted so much to wake up from and find everything the way it should be. He wanted to wake up to a world where Sonic was okay again, where Amy was still around, and a world in which he wasn't afraid to love with his entire heart and soul for Cream. Shadow exited from the bathroom and looked at everyone as he entered the room, "What the hell happened here?"

Amy woke up just as her bus pulled inside of the Station Square's bus terminal station. She had been asleep during the entire trip there from the medication she took. The long sleep that she had helped her regain her energy for whatever she might face once she arrived. In all the time that she spent away from Station Square, she had always had disturbing nightmares where she was either alone trying to get her friends attention as she suffered from incredible pain. Most of the time she had dreams where she was confronted by Sonic where he would torture her with memories of everything she had tried to do in order to get his attention or even be his friend. He would laugh so coldly at her, his voice was full of hate that Amy woke up crying for hours. There were times when she wanted it all the pain to end. Where she could dream no more, and no longer feel the pain from which she suffered from. Would by killing herself solve anything? She tried to attempt suicide, but she never went through with it. It was as if someone didn't want her to die like that, as if they wanted her to suffer even more.

In all the three years that she had spent away from Station Square, this had to be the first time where she had truly slept so soundly. This had to be the first time where she did not dream. There were no nightmares or dreams, just dark cold nothingness. It felt so welcoming to her, that she wanted to always remain like that. It was a place where there was no beginning and where there was no end, where pain, lies, and love never existed. But for now she would have to settle for this reality.

She slowly lifted herself from her seat and made her way carefully off the bus. It was so hard for her to even climb down the stairs from the bus that the driver had to help her down himself. The driver then sat her down on a near by bench and went off to fetch her suitcase from under the bus's cargo bay. Amy sat by herself as she waited for her suitcase. Crowds of people passed her by never stopping once to ask her if she was feeling well. Amy was so pale from the way she was looking. If she wasn't wearing her coat, then she would have seemed like a living corpse sitting there alone on the bench.

The bus driver came towards Amy with her suitcase in tow. He brought it towards her as Amy covered her mouth and coughed into a tissue that she had pulled out of her pocket. She slowly got up to thank the man as she took hold of the suitcase's leash and rolled away with it toward the escalator. As she rode on the escalator, a part of her was hoping that someone she knew would be waiting for her at the very top. She wanted to cry as she got to the top where the main entrance. It wasn't because no one was there; it was because the Station Square of her memories no longer existed.

The snow though beautiful to look at made the city look like a world of slow death. Amy looked at her suitcase and remembered that she had only warm weather clothes inside, and the fact that she world have to buy clothes for the cold weather would definitely put her in the red. Then again she had no choice, but to buy clothes for her stay. She couldn't trade in bus ticket since she would need to pay for any of the changes, it made her feel trap in a place she vowed never to come back. Then again why did she?

Amy exited the terminal and ventured through Station Square. She knew she had very little money on her and less in her accounts. Inside of her she knew that money and tangible things no longer mattered to her. She wanted to push her self to the limits now, because life is only and always an illusion. Amy knew that death was the ultimate reality, and heaven could only grant that reality. She looked around as she walked slowly on the sidewalk watching people walked around with their loved ones without a care in the world. Never knowing that there end was would be one day near. All she could was to wish them "Happy Holidays".

She starred into the shop windows at the elegant and stylish clothes for sale Clothes that she herself once wore. As she starred into windows, she saw her old reflection starring back at her. Amy backed away, fearing that she was going insane from the seeing her old self. She couldn't bear looking at one of the many shadows from her past, even if it was her own reflection. The image of her past self taunted and mocked her. Her fear gave her the little burst of energy she needed to flee from that area of stores and shops. She ran for what seemed like hours to her, but was really only minutes.

No matter where she went, she saw her old reflection laughing at her and telling her that she was a loser and a fool, and no one could ever love a pathetic creature like. Not in this life or in the next one. She ran, but couldn't escape from herself. She felt boxed in and trapped within the concrete jungle. Why couldn't she escape!? People around her starred at her, wondering if she was schizophrenic or something like that. Someone tried to grab a hold of her, but she swatted the hand away and ran till she physically ran out of energy and collapsed to the snow covered ground of the city park, out of sight and out of mind from the populace.


	10. Death and Happiness

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.  
  
Sonic- 21 years  
  
Amy (Paloma)- 19 years  
  
Tails- 16 years  
  
Knuckles- 23 years  
  
Shadow- 22 years  
  
Cream- 12 years  
  
Rouge- 25 years

Chapter 10: Death and Happiness

Amy Rose is dead. She was dead and her remains were now part of the living earth. She died almost three years ago to the very day. It had seemed that the only people in the world who would have cared about her passing were the ones who called her friend, sister, and even mother. They had placed a missing person's report three days after she left Station Square, but it was three years and everyone who gave a damn about her had given up hope of ever finding her alive and well. It was so hard for Rouge in her current condition to ask one of the many judges she knew on the bench to declare her legally dead, and so close to Christmas and the New Year. She had tried everything in her power within the government to find her and bring her back home. She truly wanted Amy to be her child's godmother. She knew that Amy would have been the perfect candidate and Knuckles would have agreed to her choice for his unborn child's godmother. If only she hadn't left Station Square. If only she could have found her, and cheered not only herself, but the others as well. Maybe this time she could have gotten Knuckles to place Sonic into a head lock and get him to apologize for being such a creep to Amy. Instead she felt like a complete failure to her title as both an agent and as a hunter. To her Amy's friendship, kindness, and love was the best treasure out of all the gemstones that she had purloined in all her days. Why did she have to die? Why didn't she come to her when she probably needed someone to talk to? Why did she have to die alone?

Rouge didn't want to tell the others that the paperwork had been completed and filed. It wasn't right for the mourning period to happen during a time that was scheduled for great joy and renewals of the thread that binds everyone together. It had to wait after the New Year, until everyone and everything returned back to normal and back to their lives. But how normal would their lives be after she told them. Rouge rubbed her large belly remember her current condition. She had to calm herself down and not get worked up considering the fact that she was carrying an unborn hybrid. Hybrid pregnancies were one of the most difficult out of all pregnancies known. There were high rates of miscarriages and still births, in which Rouge prayed with her entire heart and soul not to happen to hers. Imagine her praying! She was never close to the man up stairs. She was never very religious, and she wasn't an angel like Amy or Cream. So, why would he give a rat's ass about her? He didn't even listen to her prayers when Amy went missing.

They were all still inside Tails' home, trying to digest what had just happened no longer then an hour ago. Cream was still lying on the bed, and had stopped shaking about ten minutes ago. Tails sat next to her, never leaving her side once. Shadow starred out the window in deep thought, and Knuckles was preparing tea and breakfast for everyone in the kitchen. It was Christmas Eve and something unexplainable like this had to happen. Why now? Why did it have to be this way?

Knuckles stirred a pot of instant Farina with honey that he added in with some milk. He wasn't the greatest of cooks, but he could prepare some decent meals. He turned the burner off and let the sauce pot cool off before he poured its creamy white contents into five separate blue ceramic bowls that rested on a carrying tray. He was indeed deep in thought about Sonic. Like everyone else, he knew that something was wrong. He wasn't very close to his friend and rival, but he still gave a damn about him. If Sonic and Tails had never come to his island, then he would have remained alone. Never having any friends or even finding love. He couldn't allow anything bad to happen to him. He was actually considering him to be his kid's godfather. He didn't want to run this through Rouge, because he knew that she would have turned down his wish.

Snow had covered her body while laid almost motionless on the asphalt path that ran through out the city park. She laid there not moving, but her breaths were shallow enough to show some form of life that might still remain inside of her mortal shell. She was in plain sight, but people walked around her body thinking that she was nothing more then a pile of garbage that someone had left on the ground. One person, a jogger, happened to tripped over her body now bluish body. He couldn't believe what he had discovered. He had found a female hedgehog that he thought was incredible beautiful in his human eyes. This wasn't the type of place one would find a body, not even one as beautiful as she. He wrapped her in his coat and then scooped up her into his arms and close to his chest, and ran to the nearest rest station where he hoped the police officer he saw not too long ago was still there.

He ran like the wind, for her life depended on him finding help. The young man reached the rest station with what only seemed to be mere seconds with rush of adrenaline coursing throughout his body. He was relieved upon finding the police officer he had bumped into only twenty minutes before. The officer was about to leave and head back onto his patrol of the park, when the young man yelled for "Help!" He yelled at the very top of his dry and cold lungs, his body shivered with fear as he tried his best to get this poor girl the help she needed. This was his first time seeing this girl, but he couldn't help but feel like he had seen her somewhere before. She looked so peaceful the way she was, it was as if she was waiting for someone special to wake her up with kiss just like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. Never in this man's dream would he ever consider an apology.

While the officer radioed for an ambulance, Amy's hero took her into the warm rest station and laid her on a long rectangular cork table. It did not look very comfortable, but it would have to do the paramedics arrived. The officer reentered the rest station and searched the young girl's pocket for any sign of idea. The only thing the officer found was a non-driver's identification card that had the name of Paloma printed on it. The officer pocketed the idea card to give later to the paramedics in order for them to fill out the proper paperwork for her arrival over at county. He then dragged the young man into the bathroom where they would try to warm her up with warm damp paper towels. It was the best that they could do, until she would be resting comfortably over at county. The two mean tried their best to make her as comfortable as possible. They tried talking to her to get some sort of conscious response, in order to get some sort of information about herself and keep her awake, but they couldn't. Her body was slowly starting to shut down, as she was entering into a stasis like coma. Her breathing was still shallow and her heart was beating very slowly. Both men feared that she was going to die right in front of them inside of the rest station.

In a flash of light he appeared inside a men's bathroom stall. He didn't even know how he got there. The last thing he could remember was that he was asleep inside of Tails' workshop dreaming of a nightmare that didn't want to end. It was the same one that he had for the last three years. Only this time he was close to finding the identity of his dream girl. She was finally in his arms, and he didn't want to let her go. He wanted to put an end to this nightmare and know who was causing him to lose a great deal of sleep. He could almost see her face, but then she started to wither like a flower in his arms and die. If only his dreams could have been peaceful in these three years. It would have better if he could dream about his friends...even a dream with Amy could have been a nice experience for a change of pace. Sonic then he came to inside of this filthy graffiti filled stall that had to be in a ball park or a bus station. There was only one way to fund out and that was actually getting out of the bathroom. But before he could do that, he would have to relieve himself, considering he just woke up and had a full bladder.

Sonic exited the stall and made his way towards the urinal, and starred straight ahead facing the grimy tile wall. He relaxed himself and then let it all out. He had to admit to himself that it felt kind of good, considering he felt like he was going to explode and the amount her had in him could disintegrate that blue urinal cake. He snapped back to reality as he heard a man over the P.A. system announcing the arrival of the next bus into the station. Sonic thought to himself again as her jiggled the bit of urine out him and then made his way towards the sink. He wondered why he ended up in a place like this. Usually he would find himself inside of Amy's abandon apartment after coming to from one of his black out moments. At least it was a change of scenery from what he had been doing in the last three years.

He exited from the bathroom and made his way out of the station. It was snowing again. It reminded him of his life back home on Christmas Island. He hadn't been back in years to his birthplace, and he wanted now to share its beauty with someone he truly cared about. It would be nice to show them around, take them to all the places that he played and hanged out at, and even introduce them to his childhood friends.

Sonic didn't know that he took the same route out of the station that Amy had taken not long ago. He looked into the same shop windows, picturing a gift that he would actually buy for Amy when the day she would come back into his life or when he found her. Sonic never knew that in all this time he would actually be falling in love with her. Why was he so stupid to say all those things to her that day? His friends were right to yell at him about his foolishness. If he was back home on Christmas Island, he would never have acted in such a disgraceful way. Has the city corrupted his morality? She would still be here now, but then he thought about if he hadn't said what he did, would he actually be feeling this way about her? Sure absence makes the heart grow fonder, but this entire thing was sick and ridiculous. Sonic had noticed that he had made his way into the park and oddly enough in front of the rest station where Amy or Paloma as she was being now called by paramedics who were hauling her inside of the rig. Sonic got a glance at the lavender female hedgehog. She was sure beautiful, too bad that something bad happened to her. Sonic stayed in the same spot till everything was cleared out, he then noticed something that had fallen out of girl's coat. He originally thought it was a receipt, but it was a very old Station Square identification card. He looked at it and mouthed the words "Amy Rose" in almost a whisper. Could that lavender hedgehog been Amy, his Amy Rose?


	11. Truth and Vengeance

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.

Sonic- 21 years

Amy (Paloma)- 19 years

Tails- 16 years

Knuckles- 23 years

Shadow- 22 years

Cream- 12 years

Rouge- 25 years

Chapter 11: Truth and Vengeance

Sonic was truly paralyzed from the sight he was seeing before him while his stomach churned as his muzzle turned into a pale sickly color. He had remained in the same spot, gripping tightly onto the ID card. He starred at the scene up till the ambulance was far out of sight. All through his screaming mind he wondered what the fuck was going on!? Was that really Amy being placed into that thing? How could it truly be her, Amy is a pink hedgehog she wasn't in any way a shade of purple. It couldn't be her, could it? This was a young woman who lay inside this ambulance, and not the pretty young girl he remembered from his memories. She was indeed incredibly beautiful, but his Amy was cute and pretty. She was an angel living on Earth. In his heart she just had to be Amy. It just had to be and no one else. If it was her, then where had she been all these years? Was this why he couldn't find her?

Sonic walked closer towards the group of reporters that had now surrounded cop. They were obviously trying to get some of their questions answered about the Jane Doe that was taken away just two seconds ago. Sonic slowly melted into the crowd of reporters that were there. His ears had perked up as someone asked the cop "What was the name of the victim?" Sonic listened intently to what was going on. His heart was racing waiting for the cop to reveal her name. He wanted it be Amy's name that came out his mouth. He hoped to God that it was her, but it wasn't her name that came out his mouth it was "Paloma." Sonic couldn't believe what the cop had just said; it just had to be her that the paramedics hoisted into the rig. His heart was breaking inside, and he wanted to tear through the crowd of reporters and attack the cop just to make him self feel better.

Sonic wanted to beat the living crap out of him, until he said that it was Amy inside of the long departed ambulance. But instead of that he did his best to keep the pain inside of him from coming out the wrong way. Sonic did not want to wage his own war on a civil servant. Still this just didn't make any sense to him. Maybe if he talked to his friends, they would have some sort of idea of what was going on.

The ambulance pulled into the receiving emergency bay without much time wasted. The doctors were notified before their arrival of their patient. It was normal for the doctors during the past winter season to come across someone who was suffering from any one of the many stages of hypothermia. Most of the people who were suffering from it were all homeless. A few of the interns and one of the attending doctors were on stand-by as they waited for the ambulance to stop with their new patient.

Paloma was taken off the ambulance as she lay motionless on the stretcher. She was wheeled into in the ER as the attendants looked her over in coursing their plan of action. One intern-doctor stuck a ventilation tube down her throat to assists her breathing. Another intern-doctor stuck IV's filled with warm saline into her arms to warm up her already cold blood, while one of the assisting nurses was drying the watery residue from the paper towels off of Paloma's body, just in case that had to shock her if she had ever flat lined on the monitor. She thought whoever came up with that idea was a complete moron, considering when someone is in this state the proper thing to do is to keep the body dry and warm. The nurse stuck a thermo-scan thermometer into Paloma's ear and attained a reading of 86ºF. The nurse wrote down the information as she told the attending doctors.

Paloma was a piece of a metabolic block of ice. She looked dead to anyone who might be unfamiliar with medicine or this form of hypothermia. She seemed so peaceful too in her state. Her arms were so pale that they were white as the snow she had laid in. Her body was trying so hard to shut down. The doctors were now placing hot packs in her arm pits, on both sides of her neck, the palms of her hands, and on her genital region as they wrapped her body in a cocoon of warm blankets, yet making sure that her body did not sweat causing more anymore medical problems. There was nothing more that the doctors could do except wheel her into one of the well heated room and wait. The rest was all up to her now.

Sonic walked off the train platform at Mystic Ruins. Normally he would run to get to Tails' workshop, but he just walked this time. He had a lot on his mind no doubt, and he just could not put two and two together. Three years ago he had wished for in front of Amy, to stay away from him and stay out of his life forever. He was cruel to her back then, and now it killed inside as he knew it. Back then he couldn't careless how he treated her, or how she would cry over the pain he caused her so many times when he would run away from her. The things that she did back then in order get his attention would never make him stop and think twice about it. Back then he just thought of her as annoying, and now he thought of her ways to get him to notice him cute...just like her.

Sonic reached the door to the workshop and then he let out a very deep sigh thinking back to that scene in the park. He placed his hand on the door knob and then turned it slowly, pushing the door inward. As he entered the room, he could smell the faint smell of breakfast in the air and boy was he starved after all the excitement this morning. Sonic also noticed that it was a little bit quiet. He heard the television going, but he did not hear the voices of his friends. There was no happy banter inside the entire place. He walked deeper inside the workshop and found them around Cream who was on Tails' bed with a cold cloth on her head. Something didn't seem right to him, as he looked towards them. He stared at Cream who seemed very agitated when she turned her head towards him. Her pupils dilated as she sprang from the bed and ran towards Sonic but stopped in front of him in anger. She looked him over long and hard before banging her fits against his chest as she screamed with anger and fear as she remembered the image of him from before.

Sonic laid there dumbfounded as Cream was continuing with her attempts to pummel him. Everything was going wrong. Cream who was once as kind and cheerful as Amy, but did not like to fight, was now in the process of trying to beat him up. It just did not make any sense.

Tails pulled Cream off of him and held her close trying his best to calm her down. He walked Cream towards the bathroom, away from the sight of Sonic and where she could clean herself up. Sonic got up off the ground and stood up right. Shadow, Knuckles, and Rouge stared at him. It was not a stare of coldness or that of relief he was back, it more like a what the fuck just happened look. Sonic walked closer to his friends, but he felt that he should be a little cautious. He didn't how to tell them about what he just saw earlier today. The others didn't know how to confront Sonic on what had happened earlier inside the workshop.

Knuckles was the first speak after a long pause of silence "What on this God given earth has gotten into you Sonic!?" Sonic had remained still and quiet not knowing how to respond to his question as well as not knowing what was going on. Shadow got frustrated with Sonic's silence "You better answer him Faker or I'll make you answer him." Rouge didn't want a fight to go one between her friends, let alone inside someone else's home that she glared at both Shadow and Knuckles that made the two brutes calm down a second or two. "Sonic, do you even know what they're talking about?" Sonic just shook his head side to side in a no motion. "Sonic, early this morning you...well freaked Cream out. You someone turned into this eerie glowing form of your super self, from what we could understand from Cream." As Rouge finished what she said, Sonic hanged his head low and looked at the ground. He noticed a pair of scorched marks as big as his own feet. "I don't know what exactly happened you guys, all that I can remember is that I woke up inside of the bus station, then I went to the park where I saw a young women who looked like Amy, but she wasn't pink and she was being placed inside of an ambulance. They...they said her name was Paloma. But that couldn't have been her name! Amy's ID card fell from her coat pocket!" Shadow could see the look in Sonic's eyes. It was a sign of pain, a pain that he still felt for Maria. "Sonic..." was all that Shadow could muster before placing his hand on Sonic's shoulder.

Rouge placed her hand into her pocket, as she held onto the piece of paper that she had signed declaring that Amy Rose was dead. How could she tell Sonic? He was in so much pain, and all these years she and the rest assumed that he was finally happy to see Amy gone, and for him finding out she was dead would have been a blast for him to hear. Now tell him this would only hurt him even more. It would be a sick and cruel thing for her to do to show that stupid piece of paper. She took her hand out of her pocket, but the paper had fallen onto Sonic's own foot. Sonic slowly bent over and picked up the piece of paper. "Rouge this isn't true is it? Please tell me ...please tell me this is just a sick joke!" Rouge bit her lower lip, how could she admit to him that she was a failure at work as a government agent and hunter. Those kinds of people could any form of information on anyone or anything. Knuckles took the paper from Sonic's hand, and then Shadow took it from Knuckles after he had looked it over. "Sonic, I'm sorry...but I did my best to find her and I failed. She's no where to be found, and from the way she sold everything that belonged to her...it just proves that she was planning to harm herself" Sonic couldn't believe what her was hearing. Amy was not the type to take her own life, even if she was hurt the way he had hurt her. But who could blame her if she did. No. No she didn't kill herself, she was murdered and her murder was Paloma. Sonic knew that this young woman was responsible, and had to pay. She will pay for what she did to his beloved rose that he could no longer take back the pain he had caused.


	12. Revenge and Regret

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me.

Sonic- 21 years

Amy (Paloma)- 19 years

Tails- 16 years

Knuckles- 23 years

Shadow- 22 years

Cream- 12 years

Rouge- 25 years

Chapter 12: Revenge and Regret

It was four days after New Years, and things were still the same. Sonic stayed away from his friends since what happened at Tails' home/workshop. He did not know how he could face them or even talk to them. They all believed Rouge's story of how Amy most likely took her own life. He wanted everyone to believe his theory that she was alive and that he had seen her, but they would say it was just wish filled thinking and guilt. How could they just believe that she would do such a thing?

Sonic had not returned to Station Square in quite a long time. He just could not bring himself back to a place that had so many memories of her, and those memories were of great pain and suffering he had caused her. Ever since he saw the death certificate that Rouge had produced days before, he had not been the same since then. The once carefree and remorseful Sonic harbored an indescribable rage. He did not want to believe the truth that Rouge had told him. Amy was not capable of killing anyone or even herself. She was so kind and sweet that the most likely cause was that she had met this Paloma when she needed a friend the most. Paloma somehow took advantage of that so-called friendship and took Amy away from him and the rest of the world. That was just one explanation that Sonic could simply come up with in his mental state. He then thought back to the ID card that had fallen out of Palmoa's coat pocket. Rouge tried to reason with him giving the most obvious answer to that mystery. Rouge had assumed that the coat she was wearing must have belonged to Amy at some point in time, and since Amy sold all her belongings, the one could assume that she forgot to check the coat pocket for anything important. For the first time in his life, Sonic's legs gave out and he fell onto the hard wood floor.

Sonic felt weak, useless, and helpless. If he had not made that wish and if he had not told her those words that cut through her like a knife, Amy would still be here clinging onto him drawing the much needed air from him.. She would be hugging him tightly and talking in her familiar high pitch feminine voice. Her voice was like no other voice he heard all his life. It had filled everyone with happiness, hope, and love. Shadow, the more reasonable of the bunch, kneeled down next to Sonic and tried to make him understand and cope with Amy being gone. Shadow knew how Sonic felt, and it was the same of pain that he had felt when he had lost Maria all those years ago. Amy was in some ways like his Maria. The two females had beautiful hopes and dreams, and they loved like no one else he knew. They loved their friends like family and family like friends, and family was the most important thing to them. Family meant, that you were never alone or forgotten on any day of the week. You are loved completely and that was a good feeling. A very good feeling indeed.

Since the incident, Sonic had been camping out inside of the old ruins of the Echidnas in the rainforest of the Mystic Ruins. All he had with him were a few pots and pans, some tableware, and a few books. Sonic was a survivor, and could live off the land as long as he wanted to. The books he had brought along were probably the only things keeping him sane. He would reread _I am a Cat_, written by Soseki Natsume, _The Da Vinci Code_, by Dan Brown, and _The Tale of Genji,_ by Murasaki Shikibu. The books were long, and they would last a good long time before he either got board or went insane from the loneliness. He was in the middle of reading _I am a Cat_, which was set during the Meiji Revolution, when he started to think that this nameless reminded him of Amy. It was not how the nameless cat viewed things from his Master's home or how the human world worked, but it was mostly how the nameless cat was treated by people in the chapters he had read. The cat was tormented by its Master's children and the maid. He was blamed for the death of female cat next door that he had loved dearly. It was only because the nameless cat was at one time a stray and had no proper breading like Tortoiseshell who had lived next door. Her Mistress treated her like a human being and a daughter, while the nameless cat was treated as neither and hardly like a living a creature or as a family pet. How that nameless cat yearned to be accepted like his love Tortoiseshell. How he, Sonic the Hedgehog, had treated Amy like the nameless cat, and had blamed her for almost every little thing she did that got her in trouble.

When Sonic was not reading one of the books he had brought along, he would keep himself busy by exploring the old decaying ruins and lose himself in deep thought with its enigmatic aura. He would stare at the old paintings and marvel at the carvings inside. He hardly ever would be seen running around. He needed to slow down and actually think about his problems and worries. Sometimes he wondered why he acted like such a jerk back then, and why now did he start to care about her. There was something about that damn space station. It had some sort of power over him that made him change a little towards her. It was something about it had made him see Amy in a different light and he wanted to know why. Ever since then he did start to have feelings for her, but never told a soul about. Even the days, months, weeks, and years after the incident he had tried to deny his feelings by developing a vile hate for her… and it worked. He was afraid to fall in love with her or anyone in that sense that he had known through out his life. He was not afraid of his reputation, but was afraid of losing them to the danger that followed him. Then why did he have friends?

What Sonic wanted to do was to apologize to her, but she was no longer alive. All Sonic wanted now was penance for his actions, but what holy man would absolve him of his sins? Maybe he should do an archaic form of penance, one that would prove his suffering and prepare him for vengeance. He thought back to what he read somewhere about how certain priests in the old days would whip themselves to rid the world of the evil plague, as well as a form of penance. The whipping was a symbol of how Christ had suffered before he was crucified for all to see. He wanted to feel the same sharp metals against his own his back. He wanted them to drag along his back and dig deeply into his mortal flesh. He wanted to feel this pain, hoping that it would give him penance for his past actions towards Amy and his friends. He wanted so much to clean his soul and himself. Their philosophy was "Pain is good, Pain in cleansing". How he wanted this to all go away, and he wanted to blame someone else for this.

Sonic wished that he could turn back the clock and change the cascading domino effect that he had created. He definitely knew that the guilt was all his and no one else were to blame for it. He lived for his friends, but he could not live without the trust from the ones he loved. Even now, he knew that no one could forget the past just like no one could forget love and pride, and it was killing him inside. Sonic knew he let everyone down. He was a fool to himself and thought he could live for no one "else". Now through all the hurt and pain he caused his friends and to himself he knew that his friends meant more than anything else. Even with sadness in his heart, he felt that the best thing he could do was to end it all by getting revenge. Revenge on Paloma. What she and he had done was done and God it felt so bad. Nevertheless, where was God when you needed him? Where was he when Amy was dying or when his friends were feel depressed about her absence?

The once happy moments in his and in everyone else's' life were now sad. In his heart, Sonic felt as if he would and could never love again and a world filled with love for him had ended. He felt like everything was tumbling down on him, and he wanted out. Nevertheless, how does one get out of a mess that they created, that did not have an exit, and could never be cleaned up by any common means? He sat on one of the many temple steps and starred out towards the setting sun. He let out a heavy sigh as he tried to figure out what should he do next with his life. Should he continue being the hero that everyone had grown to know, even though he tainted by what he did to someone close to him or should he give it all up and let someone more deserving and capable to take the reigns? Even if he did decide to continue his work, how could he ever face another person like Amy again? Would he be able to save them and would he choke when he tried to? Even if it had been peaceful, it still did not mean that he should still be kept off guard by not asking himself these types of questions. Maybe everything could be solved if he could prove to Amy that he was sorry, but the only thing he could think of was the fear and emptiness she may have felt once her life was silenced by Paloma and how it would be nice for her to feel the same way Amy had did. Sonic wanted her to feel helpless. He wanted her to feel alone and scared, just as Amy did when she left this world so cruelly. However, how does one go about doing this to a complete and monstrous stranger? How should he make her learn the god-awful pain she had given him and to his friends, even though they did not believe his view of accounts. He was going to find a way and make sure that Paloma would harm another loved one ever again.


	13. Third Degree and Satisfaction

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission or knowledge. All other characters belong to me. The places used as backdrops, except for SS, mentioned in this story are real.

Sonic- 21 years

Amy (Paloma)- 19 years

Tails- 16 years

Knuckles- 23 years

Shadow- 22 years

Cream- 12 years

Rouge- 25 years

Chapter 13: Third Degree and Satisfaction

The city had changed in the days that Sonic had been away. All the places that the blue bomber and his friends used to hang out together we closed and gone. Even every shop that he could remember that Amy had once dragged him into on her shopping trips went out of business because of lack of customers in the area, the high taxes, or out of fear because of recent fires set by an unknown gang of arsonists. Rumors were going around the old place. People were saying that the shopkeepers were paying people to set the fires. The owners would pay an amount and then wait for their shop to go a blaze. It was the perfect plan and no one would be caught. The perfectly executed plan made the fire marshals assume that each fire was the result of some sort of electrical error or a gas leak. Not only did this give the storeowners the perfect alibi for their whereabouts, but also they would be able to collect the insurance without any problems of fraud. These people were desperate and had fallen on the hardest of times; they would have done anything to make ends meet.

Sonic stood watch over the hospital from a top an adjacent building that had went out of business a week before. For a few days now, he had been thinking of some kind of way to get inside and see Paloma. He knew that it would not be an easy task to do, considering everyone knew who he was, and for him to pull anything off would be a miracle if he was not caught by hospital staff. However, who could catch the fastest thing alive! He was being cocky and he knew it. Somehow, being cocky had to be one of his weaknesses yet it also served as an asset to him. It was weird for him to be back in Station Square. It was almost eerie. Only shadows remained of his memories in the busiest of cities. The old places connected to his memories remained inside of him, but the busy and always ever changing city had erased them away. All these old memories would flood his ever-fragile mind and the emotions that he once felt would drown him and play a number on his emotional state. These feelings of regret and anguish were real and his. As far as could remember, was that he was born alone. His friends had slowly started to shut him out of their lives. Some of them not even caring what the next day or hour would do to him. They thought he was crazy, and when they suggest that he needed help, that he needed to speak to someone who could help him come to terms and move one. Each time the famous blue hero would flip out and create some kind of scene that would not only scare his friends but himself from the reactions he saw on their faces. He never thought that one person could do this to him; he had never thought that Amy would be that person.

Sonic walked over towards a broken mirror that he had found earlier. He had found the old broken thing when he wandered around Amy's old haunting ground. It was discarded by the dumpster of an old costume shop that had like many of the shops had gone out of business. It was cracked and in some places the glass was long gone. The frame was sure pretty and had to be hand carved. No machine could duplicate such craftsmanship like this. Maybe when he was done with it, he should get it fix and then give it to Rouge as a peace offering. She sure did love looking at her self in any mirror. She even had one on the ceiling of the master bedroom. Sonic shook his head trying to get that fearful image out of his head. He then kneeled down and placed a strong gaze at a shopping bag full of uniforms that he had found in the hospital's supply room. He placed his hand in the bag and pulled out an old candy stripper uniform. It was such a design for a uniform, and it totally clashed with his very own natural attitude that he had to force himself to put it on.

After the eternity of putting the uniform on, Sonic stood up straight a look at himself in the mirror. Even if it was a hideous color, he sure made it look nice and sexy on his frame. Now as he looked at himself, he came to realize that even if he wore the ugly ass uniform, his face was still very recognizable. He could change his quills, but it would be a hard choice of whether to change the color, style or even both to remain undetected. He could just wear a wig or maybe a du rag could help him cover up any revealing marks. He grinned to himself for a bit as he remembered how everyone had mistaken him for Shadow all those years ago. Still how they ever mistaken him for Shadow, he will never know. Sonic, kneeled down again and placed his hand back into the bag feeling around for the spirit gum, fake beard, and scissors. He felt kind of lucky as to finding these articles next to the dumpster where he had found the mirror. He took the scissors and began cutting pieces off the beard. He applied the spirit gum to his face and then added the few pieces of cut pieces of the beard and fastened it into a mustache. He looked at himself in the mirror. He sure did look different. He didn't even recognize himself. He looked a bit like himself, but his mustache looked like Eggman's own.

Had it come to this? Had it come for the legendary blue hero to cross the line into evil, or had he already crossed it long ago when he had treated Amy so cruelly. It almost felt weird to see this mustache on himself. He had never imagined that he would be wearing something that remotely looked like something his nemesis would own. Sonic could not help but trace the reflection of the mustache with his fingers. Was it trying to tell him what he was going to do was evil and wrong, even to someone who may not deserve it. But she did deserve it, all the evidence pointed to her and only her, and for that she must be punished. His reflection sickened and disgusted him. Was this the read blue hero that had become famous after so many years? Would throwing away all his accomplishments be worth it?

Sonic gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as he formed a fist, and then punched the glass sending it flying all over the roof. Opening his eyes slowly, Sonic brought his hand in front of his face and starred at the blood running from his hand. It looked pretty and yet there was pain throbbing through out his entire hand. The blood had reminded him of Amy's headband and clothing. He had almost forgotten the name of the shade of red that she had worn to set off her natural pink coloring. The entire sight of his own blood had cleared his mind of all doubt that he had of his future actions. It still wasn't clear how he would deal with Paloma, but he assured himself that he would know once he got there.

Sonic wrapped his hand in some cloth bandages he had brought from his campsite in the ruins. Though it wasn't a proper fix to stop the bleeding, it would have to do till he got inside the hospital and fixed it there himself. With that process done, Sonic made his way towards the edge of the building and jumped in a zigzag motion until he was completely on the solid ground of the dead-end alley. He calmly walked from the alley as if nothing was wrong and as if nothing was going to happen. Sonic was such a good actor that you could have believed that this was his profession. He walked up to his first hurdle, the emergency room entrance, and entered without the guards checking him out for proper ID. To them, it seems like he was always working there. Sonic let out a sigh of relief as he looked around the busy place. It was like a miniature city inside and this was Sonic's second time in a hospital, that all he could do was be amazed again and wander around the place trying to blend in. Thankfully he made his way to the medical supply room without people asking him medical questions that he barely had the answers to. Inside the small room he looked around for can of bactine spray, gauze, alcohol wipes and a roll of some adhesive tape. In his search, he found some latex gloves that he thought would come in handy later and a small shiny package that he knew he would definitely need. Sonic found his items and slowly undid the makeshift bandage he had made earlier on the roof, and began cleaning it with alcohol and the bactine spray. He then rolled the gauze around his cut hand and secured it with the adhesive tape. He brought his hand back up to his face and started to flex it, the numbing effects from the spray were already doing its work. Sonic looked at the ground and picked up the bloody cloth and discarded it in the medical waste bin next to him. Who would ever look for evidence in there? He then placed the latex gloves over his hands and slipped the small shiny package inside of it, making sure that no one could see it through the glove.

As Sonic went back into the hall he was approached by a third year student nurse. The student ID card that hanged around her neck said her name was Rippa and gave her class level. She looked pretty young to be student nurse, but she sure was a good looking cat. She dragged him off to a third floor single room. She motioned to Sonic to get a clean bedpan from the cart outside of the room. Sonic never would have expected to even do something that seemed beneath him but he complied trying not to create any suspicious. All through that afternoon he and Rippa were changing bedpans, and bringing in food to each one of the patients on that floor. There was one room that had caught Sonic's eye while he was working with Rippa. The door was closed, yet if you look through the glass you could almost make out maybe four or five people laying asleep there, but there could be more considering the lights were very dim. He had asked Rippa what was in that room after they were done with collecting all the empty trays from each room. She looked towards Sonic with a confusing look wonder why someone like him was asking such a silly question. She shrugged it off, assuming that he had started working at this hospital, and just said "Comatose Ward". Supposedly from her explanation, it was a room filled with people who had been in a coma for quite sometime. Some were unidentified, some couldn't afford to have a private room, or they didn't have anyone else to take care of them. Sonic ventured into the room once Rippa had gone on her break. He looked around the eerie room; it was filled with nothing but monitors and people in a deep coma.

The whole place sent shivers down his spine. He was about to leave when something caught the corner of his eye. It was her, the one person in the entire cosmos who had caused him an entire lifetime of pain and suffering. She seemed dead to him if it wasn't for the raise and fall of her chest. She had a tube down her throat to assist her with breathing, and there was another smaller tube inserted into her arm that pumped in liquid nutrients from an IV sac that hanged from a stand next to her straight into her body so that her own body wouldn't feast upon its self. The read out from the monitor said that there had been no change in her activity since being there. Her medical file, which a careless attending had left by her bedside, had dictated that since her recovery from hypothermia, there still seem to other factors attributing to her medical condition. The attending had noted that she had a weak heart when she came in so long ago. It wasn't anything genetic or something due to diet. It seemed that her heart was completely stressed, most likely due to depression from the medication that a paramedic had found on her. For what reason she had developed this mental condition he did not know, but had placed in a footnote at the bottom of the page stating that once the patient awakened that she should submitted for a psychological consult and if need be, admitted to the psychiatric ward upstairs on the sixth floor for observation and treatment.

Sonic allowed his fingers to dance along her entire helpless body. She deserved to be like this, but he wasn't the one who put her there. He had wanted her to be awake when he found her and tortured for what he believed she deserved. She looked like an innocent lying in that bed. To Sonic she was not innocent. He wanted to strangle her or break her arm, maybe even beat her up a bit. He wanted it for Amy, so that she could rest easier. Without knowing, his fingers had made their way to bottom of her gown and flipped the bottom portion up to her waist.

Sonic starred longingly at her lavender thighs and then pushed them a part when he noticed something quite odd. It was sort of strange. There was some pink fur seeping through her lavender fur as if it was some kind of regrowth after some dyed their hair. Sonic had never encountered something like this before in his own or anyone of his anthropomorphic friends. Was this caused by the hypothermia? He heard of appendages turning a blackish blue because of frostbite, but never anything else. Without giving himself any kind of warning, he had found two of his fingers jammed inside of her unused pussy. He wanted to get them out of her, but for some reason they just did not want to leave. They were feeling every part of her insides, not wanting to stop.

For Sonic this was this was an entirely new sensation. It was sticky, but moist and the sound it made when he thrusted into her, made him a bit hard. He then thought of something as he continued to watch his fingers go in and out of her. Since she took Amy away from him, then why doesn't he violate her? He grinned to himself and thought about. He could rape her without anyone coming into the room and she could never ID him. Sonic took his fingers out of her and pull down his scrub pants. He then removed his latex gloves and pulled out the small silver package. He starred at it as well. When he had first come across it, he had planned on using it like a water balloon and threw it off a high building. Now as he starred at both Paloma and the package, he knew now that he was finally able to have the guts to go through with his new plan. He slowly opened the package and rolled the slimy cover along his already hardened shaft. It felt weird having it on him, and it was stranger that this would be his first sexual experience. He had always assumed it would be with someone he truly cared about, but she had taken that special someone away from him.

Sonic slowly slid himself into her all the while feeling how tight and dry she was before popping her hymen. This had surprised Sonic. He had assumed that this girl was a bonafied slut. At least the blood from her hymen would work as lubrication. Lucky for him, but unlucky for her, that is if Paloma had not just opened her eyes.


	14. Realities v Dream

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission or knowledge. All other characters belong to me. The places used as backdrops, except for SS, mentioned in this story are real.

Sonic- 21 years

Amy (Paloma)- 19 years

Tails- 16 years

Knuckles- 23 years

Shadow- 22 years

Cream- 12 years

Rouge- 25 years

Chapter 14: Reality v. Dreams

There was never any real hope for them being together like she had planned and dreamed so many times over. But this was not a dream or even a horrible nightmare. It was reality as she saw it. She watched him as he raped her. She wanted to scream out loud at the top of her lungs and alert someone, but something was not allowing her. Maybe it was the insane amount of drugs the hospital used to heal her or maybe her own body was betraying her. She tried moving her body, but she could not even move a limb or a finger. It was hopeless. The only thing she could do was watch as he continued to thrust himself deep inside of her as felt nothing but utter pain and humiliation. The odd thing was she knew her attacker, even though he wore a ghastly disguise as he committed the act. It was this odd feeling she got whenever she was around him a long time ago. She had never had this feeling since with anyone else. In some ways this feeling felt right and calming, but it confused her to a state that she felt disgusted with herself. She at one point in her life loved him, but that was another lifetime ago. She had always dreamed of moments like this that she could share with this blue boar hedgehog, but not like this and not in this state. She wondered if he even knew it was her, Amy Rose, the pink sow hedgehog that had chased him since they were kids up until that fateful day almost over three years ago. Even though she had totally changed outward and possibly inward, a bit of her wanted to believe that no matter what she looked like that he still knew it was her.

A part of her was trying to knock some sense into what was left of her common sense. It was telling her that what he said long ago was true, and that this was his way of showing it. He must truly hate her in order to come up with something as vile, cruel and disgusting as this. She never thought that the one person she had looked to for strength and true happiness was in fact a horrible monster. She would never have assumed from looking at him, and probably no one else would have either. He was a hero to everyone on the planet, even though he had a dark side that no one would ever believe even existed. He still represented everything that the populace dreamed that they could be. To everyone, Sonic the Hedgehog was a good looking, cool, relaxed and a heroic person who even had a super power. Anyone would give their left arm for a super power even if it was super speed it was still cool. From what Amy could remember, he loved to show off in front of people and the attention he got from them would only fuel his ego even more. Like he needed more of an ego boost. Always honoring the wishes of every hot looking fan girl that came his way and swoon over him. He would never run away from when they hugged or tried to kiss him. Sonic would always stop running whenever he was being chased by the fan girls he loved so, but he never stopped running for her. He would always increase his speed and peel out when it was her chasing him. He would create thick clouds of dust clouds that would blow up small pebbles or dirt from the ground and hit her in the face. She even remembered once when he made her eat sand when he sped up on the beach and then again in a sandy area of the park. She remembered how gritty it tasted and how it got into her dress and boots. Why did he hate her so much? She acted like all the other girls did, and not once was she shown any kindness from him. He saved her life on more then one occasion and had believed that he felt the same way she did. Now as she thought about it and considering his character even more, she was just a toy to be used and thrown away when he got tired of her. Maybe it was because she was not pretty or even beautiful enough like the other girls he liked. Maybe this was the reason why every guy she had meet treated her as nothing more then a sister like person or even avoided her as if she was the plague. Maybe they felt sorry for her, because no one could or would love her. Tears fell out of her eyes as she continued to watch him rape her. Crying was the only other thing she could besides for breathing and feeling pain. She could only watch and wonder what was going through his mind right now and the last few years.

Sonic smiled psychotically as he continued banging Paloma. He wanted to be rough with her, and since her eyes were now open his disguised self would be forever burned into her mind. He probably was a representation of all that she hated, and the reason why she killed his Amy. Amy represented all that was good and sweet in the world, and this whore took her away from those who loved her the most. He loved the way her head would hit against the bed post with a thud and the way her body just laid there like a rag doll. She probably had a headache by now and could not do a damn thing about it because of the medical state she was in. But something he did not expect to play with his emotions was seeing her cry. People would have just said it was a reflex, but it did not seem like that. Sonic stopped what he was doing and then closed and rubbed his eyes for a bit. Only Amy shed pure innocent tears like that, but her eyes were not the soft green eyes that he remembered Amy having. They were of a different color and yet they felt familiar like he was staring at a person he once knew from long ago. He closed his eyes again and when he opened them again, there was Amy lying where Paloma once was. The Amy he remembered and now regretted ever letting go was there in front of him and crying. "A…A…Am…y", he was hesitant and scared when trying to say her name. Every time he had problems saying her name aloud, that he would substitute it for "her" whenever talking to his friends. It may have sounded harsh and evil maybe even cruel, but he just did not feel right or even feel that had earned the right to say her name. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard before opening his mouth "Amy?" For the first time in three years he had said her name without anything trying to deny him saying it. For Sonic it felt good coming out of his mouth finally and saying her name, but this was not the perfect time to have done so and it felt tainted coming from his mouth. For once in his life, Sonic were mortified and terrified. He was the blue hedgehog that lived life without fear, and he sometimes he wondered if something was wrong with him. He shook his head violently and looked back at his victim in front of him. Amy's image was gone and here lying in front of him was this lavender sow hedgehog named Paloma! Sonic started to inch away from her and in doing so fell off the bed with a loud thud, lucky for him no one was around for miles to hear it, but what he did not count on was pulling on one of the tubes that was connected to Amy. Pulling it off by accident, made a very loud alarm go off with in the room and from what Sonic was told earlier in the day that these alarms were connected to the main nurses' station and if the cameras in the hall had caught him tape leaving the room then they would surely try to hunt him down even though he was wearing a disguise.

Sonic looked around the room for anything he could use as a means of escape or even a place to hide for the time being. To his luck, there was no way out except for going through the door, unless he could use chaos control. He could hide until they left, but that would mean guards would most likely be placed at the door, then there was the video capture of him walking into the room. He needed to get that tape and the only option left was chaos control. Sure this was not in his definition the perfect time to use it, and he never liked the idea of using anything magical or mystical for personal gain, but he had no choice he had to get out of here and collect himself. With a flick of the wrist, a blue chaos emerald appeared in the palm of his hand. Years ago he had learned this technique from a very sexy rabbit magician on one of his many adventurous dates with his fan-girl followers, and had used this new skill in keeping anyone of the emeralds he collected safe and hidden in something the rabbit called sub-space. Sonic starred for awhile at the emerald. Never in his days did he ever think of resorting to this in order to get away from a crime that he actually committed. He then changed his concentration to the lavender hedgehog and then to the door. He could hear footsteps in an excited pace coming from the far end of the hallway and he knew he had to act quickly. Sonic returned his gaze back to the chaos emeralds in his hand. He strongly concentrated on the one security room in the hospital where he knew he had to go first and get anything that could hurt his reputation and from there he would use the same technique to take him wherever he could still concentrate on being a safe haven for himself. With a soft and scarred voice, Sonic whispered the words "Chaos Control" and vanished into a near blinding light that transported him into the men's bathroom just right across the security room. He found it odd that he was transported to the bathroom instead of the security room, but this was good too. How would he ever explain this _X-Files _occurrence to the guard on duty in the room? If he had popped up in their, he sure would have been in a hell of trouble, so he counted his blessings and walked out of the bathroom passing on by the office to get a glimpse inside. Lucky for him no one was at post so he slithered his way inside and hunted the console for the monitor that was in the area. He frantically searched the place and yet when he found the monitor, it was not even working. The recorder was busted and so was the monitor, and who knows how long it was out of commission. Sonic let out a sigh of relief and this time walked out of the office. He was in a state of euphoria and his levels of adrenaline were up. He felt almost high, but not high enough to cloud his judgment and get himself the hell out of here on foot.

Sonic calmly walked out of the hospital and for a while just wondered the streets till he was back at the now abandoned shop where he had put his disguise together. He walked into the alley and then looked up noticing that fire escape ladder was back up, so he jumped and grabbed two steps on the ladder and pulled it down himself. For a moment he felt almost winded when he did something as simple as that. Maybe he should rest and take it easy for a bit before doing anything stressful such as thinking for a bit. He started to climb the ladder slowly, but it was getting hard and he felt very dizzy almost suffering from a vertigo effect, that he lost his hold on the ladder. He knew that he was falling, but he did not care. It did not seem like a long fall and for reason he knew that everything would be alright when he woke up again. He knew that this whole nightmare would be over and he would be lying in his own warm bed, and Amy would be in her own apartment dreaming of him and she would be safe. This was the only thing that kept him calm as he landed inside one of the many green city dumpsters in the alley. He could not even feel himself hitting his head or even his neck on the hard and sharp edges of it. Before he blacked out he could not recall any time from when he yelled at Amy up until now in which he had felt physical pain. Sure people slapped him or he fell, he just had not felt physical pain. Emotional pain he did feel, but not anything physical. Sonic pondered this as his eyes slowly closed and brought him into a torturous world of darkness.


	15. Where am I? Am I real?

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission or knowledge. All other characters belong to me. The places used as backdrops, except for SS, mentioned in this story are real.

Sonic- 21 years

Amy (Paloma)- 19 years

Tails- 16 years

Knuckles- 23 years

Shadow- 22 years

Cream- 12 years

Rouge- 25 years

Chapter 15: Where am I? Am I real?

Sonic emerald green eyes fluttered wide open inside of a diamond glass capsule that appeared to be in some sort of very poorly lit laboratory. It took his eyes only a few minutes to focus in the dark and realize that he was floating in some kind of liquid. He panicked for a bit, waving his arms around voraciously but he was not drowning. For some reason he could breathe in this water like substance and that seemed to calm him down a bit to realize he had electrodes connected to his head. He wondered for a bit how long he had been here because the last thing he could remember was blacking out inside of a city dumpster. Had it been hours, days, weeks, months, or years? Time just seemed to stop for him, and he so desperately needed to go back to the hospital and see if Amy was okay after what he did to her. He wanted to know if she was awake yet or even alive. He knew he would have to admit to what he did to her, even if it meant losing her again forever.

He ran his hand over his head looking for any signs of a bump, but he found nothing nor did he feel any pain. This was certainly odd. How could anyone come out of what he has been through without even a mark? The blue hedgehog returned his gaze and then scanned the room. Every piece of technology did not seem like something Eggman would have, considering the fact her never messed with any of the bio-medical sciences. He could tell from the machines that his vitals were normal and that he was getting the proper intake of nutrients from what he could figure out. There was a door far off to the side of the room that was most likely locked and in another corner a massive computer was leaning against the wall recording and dispensing some sort of information. Then he noticed another room next to him. He turned his head and noticed another capsule like his with another poor creature inside. Sonic tried squinting his eyes trying his best to make out when species or even gender the creature was. At best he could tell the creature was female, but her room's light was in such a poorer condition than his that he could not make out what species she was or guess her age. He wondered if his female companion in the next room was ok, and if she had done anything wrong like he had done to Amy. Was this place some kind of super jail made by the government for creatures like him or was this all a dream caused by his fall? Sonic's ears perked up as he heard voices and loud footsteps approaching the room. He decided that it would be best at this point to play possum and keep his eyes closed so that his captives would not suspect anything out of the ordinary was going on with their blue specimen.

The doors opened with a loud swoosh as a large human male entered the room with what sounded like three robots, but only one entered the room from what Sonic could make out from listening very carefully. The other two robots stood guard at the door, fulfilling their intended programming. They walked about the room clicking away at the various QWERTY keyboards in the room. He heard printers going off and laughter from the only human in the group echo through his mind. It was a familiar laugh and sent chills up and down his spines. Sonic decided at this point to open his eyes just by a sliver so that he would be able to still keep up his game of possum and catch a glimpse of his captive. From what he could make, Sonic could see an egg shaped belly covered in a red suit. Never in all of Sonic's days had he ever thought of Eggman finally capturing him, let alone keeping him alive in this test tube like prison he was in. This surely must have been a result from his fall. It just did not seem logical to Sonic for Eggman to actually capture him. Sure there was that one time on ARK, but he had allowed himself to be captured in order to save Amy.

"How are the vitals on both of these vermin?" demanded Eggman as he starred at Sonic inside of his holding chamber, a wicked smile was curling along his face. "The blue hedgehog's vitals and nutrients levels are as you requested at 100. He has been given the proper scenario program as you had specified and created master. The pink hedgehog female's vitals are lowering drastically since you specified her nutrient intake was to be at 40. Her mental and emotional states are almost down to perfect zero, she will be dead within week most likely earlier then the predicted time." commented the robot as it stood there in perfect formation in front of its human master. "What of her scenario programming?" asked Eggman to a point where his Theodore Roosevelt-like mustache covered his ever growing smile. "The program is working as you have designed master. The programmed world which they both share and are living in is indeed the result of her coming demise that is thanks to your nemesis and his lovely actions that he has displayed within the program." dictated the robot in its cold monotone voice.

Eggman remained silent as he continued starring at Sonic inside of his tube. He could not believe that he was finally going to win. He always dreamed of this day but from his countless defeats it almost seemed unattainable. He had the perfect plan to destroy his nemesis and for most of it he had to give credit to Amy Rose whose feelings for Sonic was so great that it fit perfectly into his plan on destroying him. Eggman thought the best way to destroy his enemy was by mental and emotionally severing the bonds the blue hedgehog had formed throughout the years with his friends and by doing that, his spirit would be crushed and his confidence destroyed. Amy was the perfect catalyst. He knew how Sonic treated her somewhat coldly. He knew that Sonic would run away from her leaving his dust on his face. It happened to be the same vicious cycle that Eggman had witnessed while watching them grow up. Though throughout the years Amy remained true to her feelings for Sonic, it just placed her more into harms way…especially now. "I just cannot wait to see the blue rodent's face when he finds out that he is responsible for Miss Rose's demise. It almost makes my mouth water with delight" said Eggman as drool started to leak from his mouth. He wiped his mouth with his arm and then motioned for his robot companion to follow him out of the room. There was a lot to plan and time was definitely on their side.

It just did not seem possible. Sonic could not believe what he just heard. All he could do was mouth the words "It was all a scenario, a lie?" He felt sick to his stomach and wanted to cry but could not bring himself to. In all his life, he never dreamed of or planned on doing something so vile and cruel to Amy that it would cost her her life. It is true that she can be annoying, but that was about an eighth of how he truly felt about her. Amy loved him, but Eggman was right about how he treated Amy throughout their childhood up until now. He had been so very cruel to her, that he had even made her cry on more than one occasion. He never hated her, in fact he never verbally admitted to it…except in the computerized world, but even then he realized his feelings for her, but then he hurt her again. Right now he did not know what his feelings for Amy were. He did not know if whatever warm feelings he had were even real or created by Eggman. What kind of person was he anyway? He was supposed to be both friend and hero, but he was really in fact a despicable snake in disguise and now she was on the verge of death because of him and his stupid actions.

Sonic banged on the glass but to no success. Even with all his strength he could break free of his confinements. He then tried yelling out to Amy as loud as he could, but she did not respond. Did she truly hate him now that she did not even want to respond to him in any shape or form or was she so weak that she could not even break free from Eggman's hold? Sonic did not want to believe that was even the case. He knew Amy was a strong person even if she did not look like it physically. There was never a second where she would give up on him or on their friends. It was that part about Amy that he admired about her. Had he actually broke her? For the first time in his actual life, Sonic actually began to cry freely without any concern of what people might say. His tears wear like endless rivers filled with pain that came from his actual heart and soul. He felt so helpless and responsible for what was happening to Amy. Eggman had finally won, and it was a shame that he was not there to bask in Sonic's defeat.


	16. Consumed and Helpless

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission or knowledge. All other characters belong to me. The places used as backdrops, except for SS, mentioned in this story are real.

Sonic- 18 years

Amy (Paloma)- 16 years

Tails- 13 years

Knuckles- 20 years

Shadow- 19 years

Cream- 9 years

Rouge- 22 years

Chapter 16: Consumed and Helpless

A few hours had passed since Eggman had left the room. He had revealed so much of his horrid plan to what he had believed was an unconscious Sonic the Hedgehog. Never in his all days of fighting Eggman's tyranny did Sonic ever imagine that he would come up with something like this. Sonic was certainly not one to think about what any day would bring him. He lived for the day and the surprises that came with it. He was not one to think, but one to take action no matter what the cost. He was truly one to think fighting Eggman or anyone like him was just a game. A game without consequences, a game made for a child.

Sonic still could not believe that he would be the cause for the death of one of his "friends". His friends were the ones Sonic had always considered close to him and part of his inner circle. Sonic had never considered Amy as part of his inner circle, but still it was torture for him to be the reason for someone else's death even if that death was Amy's. All Sonic could do at this point was stare at Amy's containment tube feeling useless. If only he could be inside the other room with her, getting her out of her prison and the getting her medical attention after they had safely escaped. He needed to know how she was doing, and if she too had broken away from Eggman's program. Every time he called out to her, she would not respond. Either she was mad at Sonic or she was still trapped within the program. He almost thought that his prison was sound proof, but then remembered listening to Eggman reveal his plan without a care in the world.

It was almost killing him inside not being able to help her. Sonic could not tell how she was fairing from where he was. He could only imagine from the information he had heard from Eggman. She was slowly fading away from him and there was nothing that he could do for her. He was always able to save her from harm, but this time it looked like that this time it was not going to happen. Sonic still could not believe the events that went on in Eggman's world. He never thought of himself to be such a monster or even crossing that line between good and evil. He had always believed that nothing like that would or even could ever happen to him. He was not an evil being, in fact he always did what he was taught by society as what is right and what was wrong. He highly believed in freedom and people's rights to chose how to live their lives.

Sonic was finding it difficult to explain how he had got into this predicament in the first place. It was easier for him to remember what had gone on in that world, but it seemed insanely difficult for him to even try to remember how he and Amy came to be in this prison. Every attempt brought him back to the time he spent in the illusionary world of Eggman's program, and how he had treated Amy. It was as if a moment in his life was erased with a flick of the wrist. The odd thing was that the there was no difference between his actions towards Amy in that world or in the real world. He even wondered if he was capable enough to ever cross that line between good and evil, and take revenge on a person like he did to "Paloma".

Sonic let his head droop down till all he saw was the bottom of his containment tube. He could no longer look at her, and how could he after all the years he had treated her. Amy loved him immensely, but all he did over the years that they knew each other was tell her to "go away" and even "leave me alone". There were many times where he ran from her at top speed knowing that she would be covered in dust and dirt. He hated doing it to her, but in his mind it was the only way for her to just forget about him as well as to stop following him around the place. He did not mind all the chasing and attention that Amy had given him at first, but over the years it became quite bothersome that he could no longer stand it anymore. Sonic was truly getting his wish now, and after all these years of hoping he now regretted it. Any day now she would be gone and out of his life forever all because of his actions. Sonic kept on telling himself that he did not mean to cause her any emotional and physical harm, but a part of him did. In both worlds he had hurt Amy, and a part of him knew that he could never be forgiven for his actions. Even if he and Amy did escape from this despicable place, would she ever forgive him? Tears of regret and remorse poured out of Sonic from deep within his soul. He felt like a small child who had lost his mother.

For once in his life, Sonic cried openly and without any concern of who saw him. Memories of Amy flooded his mind with great force that he thought that he was going to lose his mind. He remembered their very first encounter and how taken back he was when he laid his eyes on her. For Sonic, it was very rare for him to find another hedgehog let alone a female of his species. He then remembered their first chase, and the feeling it gave him on how determined she was trying to catch him. Then he remembered the very first time he saved her life, and how happy she was that it was him who came to save her. The look in her eyes that day, Sonic could never forget. They were filled with love and hope for him. Then out of no where a massive memory came to him. He did not know if it was real or not, but it could give him an answer to how he and Amy came to be in this place. As the memory came to him, he started to get an incredible headache, but he did not care at all about the pain his major concern now was trying to remember how he got here. If he could do that, then maybe he could figure out a way to get Amy and himself out of here. He needed to remember, no matter what. Sonic closed his eyes to what seemed like a plausible memory. He remembered that he was with his friends and Amy at a beach he had found hidden from sight a few days ago on one of his many adventurous runs.

The place had the softest and whitest of sands that he had ever seen, and the water was so clear and blue like him that he could not resist staying to watch the sunset. The breeze felt so good on his body and the smell of the salt air had reminded of all the fun he had with his friends on holiday. For Sonic, it was the most perfect spot he had ever seen in his life that he had to let his friends in on it. He remembered the fun they were having, and then he remembered how Amy sat alone on boulder looking out towards the ocean. She was not wearing a bathing suit, nor was she wearing anything beach appropriate. She just wore her everyday dress and boots. She had looked so sad that he wanted to go to her and find out what was wrong, but the others had dragged him off to play a game of Frisbee with them. It was as if they knew something that he did not. Were they trying to keep him from asking her what was wrong? He was never close to Amy like everyone else was, but the way she appeared brought nothing but sadness to his heart. This was a new experience for him to be feeling when it came to Amy. Sure he felt certain emotions towards his other friends, but Amy was nothing more than an acquaintance and never part of his inner circle. Why were they trying to do that? He remembered that the others having such fun that day and Amy all alone as if she did not exist at all. She did not even come when lunch and dinner were prepared on the beach, and still no one did anything to make her feel apart of the group. Had she done something wrong that everyone now hated her? No, no Amy would never do something like that to what he assumed were her friends. She was not the type of person to hurt anyone she loved dearly, so why was everyone hurting her from what he was seeing?

It had grown very dark that night with a full moon overhead before everyone decided to spend the night on the beach. The sand had absorbed enough of the sun's heat during the day that it felt like heaven once the cold air blew in. As a precaution, Knuckles and Tails had ventured off in search of more fire wood for the bon fire that Shadow had created for warmth as well as for light. By now Sonic was getting more concerned about Amy. She had not moved from her spot all day, and she had not even eaten or taken a drink. Sonic was starting to worry about her. She must have been starving and dehydrated by now as well as cold. For some odd reason, felt that he had to do something and it look like no one else was going to do a damn thing about it. He sighed and took a deep breathe as he decided to do something about it. Sonic had prepared a plate of left over food from dinner and took a bottle of water from the cooler. He started to walk slowly towards Amy, his hands trembling as he carried each item in his hands. He seemed more scared about how Amy would react to this sign of kindness then listening to what was bringing her down. Sonic was even more surprised to how close he was getting to her without anyone interfering. The closer he got the more scared he became that by time he was about twenty feet from her a lot explosion was heard in the distance that caused him to drop everything on Amy. Amy after so many hours finally made contact with Sonic as the food he had brought dripped from every part of her body. Her face was blank showing no emotion at all as she noticed Sonic inching his way back as he ran from her and towards where the explosion had come from.

It was a tough decision to make. He could both stay and apologize to Amy, or he could go and find out what caused the explosion. Sonic chose the second option. He could not deal with the look on Amy's face. It well spooked him a bit, and he did not know if he could handle it like he could handle taking on one of Eggman's creations. Sonic stopped once he came to a clearing where a giant crater had formed. He looked around trying to find the cause, but he found nothing that could solve this mystery until his ears perked up picking up a sound off in the direction where he and his friends had set up camp. Sonic ran back while listening to what sounded like a laser blast going off. It was a sound so very familiar to Sonic, that he hoped his friends and Amy were alright. All through this time that he was trying to get back, he never once thought about Amy being in danger. Never did she cross his mind again like she did at the beach. All he thought about was his inner circle of friends, the ones he would do anything for.

Sonic had arrived in time to assist his friends with Eggman's latest attack. Everyone was fighting except for Amy. She was still in the same spot where she had been all day and still covered in food that Sonic had spilled on her. She was safe off in the distance, but she still continued to look out at the ocean not caring at all about the fight. It was so out of place. By now she would have been calling out his name or in the clutches of one of Eggman's robots, but it did not happen. What did happen was the defeat of Eggman's robots and something else. Eggman disgusted by his robots defeat opened fire on everyone, including in Amy's direction. Everything played out in slow motion for Sonic and his friends as Sonic watched as Eggman fired a missile towards Amy. She did not move or turn her head when Sonic tried to call out to her. Sonic tried to move his legs, but he felt as if he had no longer had his special ability.

The missile impacted Amy's rock with great force that it threw her into the water like a rag doll. Sonic ran towards what was left of the cluster of rocks. It was not because of his duty as a hero, but something urged him to go to her. He was insanely afraid of water and normally would not go into it, but he had no choice. Sonic was about to jump into the water to save her when Eggman shot a jolt of electricity at him, sending the blue hero into the water with Amy. The last thing Sonic saw was Amy lifeless body tangled in a grove of seaweed as her own blood snaked its way from her body, but something was odd about her body from what he could last remember. Amy's battered body had the appearance of a week or even a month's worth of extreme abuse. Some wounds old and some were new. At the time Sonic did not notice or take it into consideration that someone was abusing Amy.

A sudden jolt moved Sonic around in his containment tube with great force, moving him from side to side that caused him to break his concentration. It was as if someone had kicked the damn thing, but Sonic did not dare to open his eyes. He knew in his gut that he was being toyed with and he did not like the idea of being so helpless. If he was to open his eyes inside of his containment tube then cover would have been blown. He was not born yesterday considering he knew very well the consequences of cause and effect. In fact it was one of his favorite games. But how could he think of games at a time like this? Amy needed him, and yet he did not know how to help her. "I know you're conscious you disgusting blue rodent!" Sonic knew the voice to be that of Eggman, but he did not want to give him the satisfaction of being right. "Fine then if you don't want to prove me right then you can listen to my little story of a young pink sow hedgehog and how the people that she assumed were her friends didn't even know that she had been missing for two whole months, and I bet that they still don't. Such a sad story too and soon it too will have an even sadder ending to go with it." Eggman's voice sounded happy knowing that he could finally torture his nemesis without worrying about him escaping.

It had to be the perfect highlight of Eggman's entire day as he watched Sonic grinding his teeth, the grinding sound sounded like someone walking on gravel. Sonic tried his best to restrain himself, telling himself that everything he had said was nothing more than a lie. How could anyone not notice a person missing for two whole months? It was simply impossible to even think about it, let alone thinking about if that person was Amy. "I just kept them and even you busy with mindless busywork" Sonic opened his eyes widely, almost in fear but mostly in amazement that Eggman read his mind.

"The beautiful screams she made when I played with her in my playroom, you should have seen the fun she had with all my 'toys'. Watching her quiver in absolute fear was a total delight, such a good little girl. It was even adorable watching her believe that you or one of her so-called friends would come and find her. You should have seen her in her cell, Sonic. Covered in old and cuts, a few bruises here and there, and dried blood matted into the luscious pink fur of hers. You remember that rose pink fur of hers. So soft and lovely on a creature like her. I can't believe how cute she was as she rocked back and forth hoping that her friends would come and save her. When they didn't come, it just destroyed her, especially when she waited for you to save her. You should have seen her cry uncontrollable as I played phony media files starring you and your views on her. For a time she was strong and didn't believe them, but as time went on without any sign of a friend…well you can just guess what happened next. The poor dear, alone and with a broken heart, mind, body, soul."

Sonic let out a low growl before he banged on the glass with great force. Sonic had always kept his cool in any situation, but this was the first time he had truly lost it. He was blind with rage, and nothing in the entire universe could calm him down. Nothing right now…except for Amy.

Eggman continued to grin at his blue friend's predicament. He loved watching Sonic beyond mad, it was a totally new thing for him and was probably a new feeling for Sonic too. Sonic never knew he was capable of intense anger and rage. All he wanted right now was to get Amy as far away out of this hell. There just had to be some way to do it, but a strong part of Sonic was resisting any force to save her. He was afraid of the consequences once Amy came to.


	17. Genki Desu ka? How is your Energy?

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission or knowledge. All other characters belong to me. The places used as backdrops, except for SS, mentioned in this story are real.

Sonic- 18 years

Amy (Paloma)- 16 years

Tails- 13 years

Knuckles- 20 years

Shadow- 19 years

Cream- 9 years

Rouge- 22 years

Chapter 17: Genki Desu ka? (How is your Energy?)

What kind of hero was he? Sonic had contemplated that all the time that Eggman had spent gloating in front of him. He could not even protect one innocent female let alone keep himself from being captured. He should have treated her better, and respected her from the very beginning. It would have been hard to believe, but certain concepts were still new for the blue hedgehog wonder. He never had any friends before meeting Tails and the others. He had always been a loner without any ties to anyone, and for awhile that is how he had liked it. But living the life of a loner had soon caught up with him and eventually took its toll on the lonely traveler.

Sure he had fellow critters to hang out with growing up, but that is all they did. They were never truly opened like his current friends were. They never once shared how they felt about certain things that they where were feeling. At some point it felt as if they were using him in order to heighten their own popularity status from how things looked. Sonic never liked being used by anyone and this was one of those reasons. He was not born to make others look good. Sometimes he even wondered why he was born. Then again everyone wonders why they were born. Many times Sonic felt like one of the damned and that the only way he could break out of this curse was to do all these good deeds, but in time his train of thought changed. It felt so different when he actually started to make real friends. But when it came to Amy, a part of him still felt as if she was trying to use him. Even if nothing came out of it for her, except for love and friendship, it still felt like as if she was just like his old gang.

She just wanted him and only him. In all the time he assumed he knew her, she never looked twice at another guy. Not even when she started to hang out with Shadow did she ever show any romantic liking towards him, although the fact they were close friends did at one point make him jealous.

Amy loved Sonic and was always true to her word about her feelings for him. Attentive to his needs and wants even if his needs and wants meant that he wanted her out his sight. Guess it was just a natural defense, but why did it kick in whenever Amy was around and not when the others came near him. He had always thought that she was bad for him. Kind of like how sweets are bad for you once you get into your fifties.

How could he have been so cruel as to treat her the way he did without even considering other possibilities? Maybe he did love her and maybe he was just afraid to show it. It could be because he did not want to get his heart broken if he had ever found out that she was using him. How devastating that would be for him and not just because of his reputation as the ultimate definition of cool, but because she was someone who loved him for whom he was.

Eggman had long since departed the room, leaving the two hedgehogs alone. Except for the sounds from the computers, the darken room gave off a ghoulish sensation as if the room was made for death and the damned. Sonic let out a long sigh and looked over at where Amy rested. He wished he could talk to her and reassure her that everything was going to be okay. But he could not. He wished that she could talk back to him and hear her voice again. Her voice was always full of warmth and love, something he had searched for a very long time. She was in some kind of coma like state and did not know the first steps to reach her. He tried to let the machine try and take over his mind again, but it was not working this time. Eggman had probably turned off his connection to the machine. The most likely reason was to make him watch Amy and know that for once in his life he had to watch an innocent die. He wanted the hedgehog to know that he alone was responsible for his actions towards his female counterpart. What Sonic felt for Amy now placed him in some kind of emotional tail spin that he knew he could never brake free from. Sonic even wondered if everything he learned about Amy within the false reality of the machine was even true. For he knew it could have been a lie, but Amy was connected to it so by some crazy means she could have broadcasted some of her memories/feelings or what was left of them through his doppelganger friends.

Sonic gritted his teeth again. He hated thinking. Thinking was never his strong points. He was always someone would lived on the thrill of the moment. Then again all males are the same, but Sonic was the embodiment of what all males dreamed of being. He was cool. He was daring and careless. He was drop dead handsome and a pleasure to all the ladies except for one. Sonic slowly formed a fist. His nails digging into the skin of his palm as he punched the cylinder glass in front of him and watched it vibrate. He already knew by now that it had no effect and punching that hard as he had done so many times before would only make his hand hurt, but he did not care. He had of lot of stress, tension, and anger lumped into that one punch that it did make him feel a bit better in the end. But it did not solve his problems.

Sonic let out another sigh as he leaned back against the capsule, floating and staring at the air bubbles that surrounded him. He looked down and noticed a tube that was running into the capsule from an unknown source filling his and probably Amy's capsule with this special liquid. Then he noticed another on the other side, vacuuming out liquid. It was as if they were kept at equilibrium, but why? Then it came to him as if it was screaming at him for being stupid. The reason why he could not make a dent into the glass was because of the liquid. He had assumed all this time that Eggman had created some special glass from diamond or some kind of hard gemstone to keep him here. Now that he knew what the problem was, the next question was how would he stop the liquid from coming into his confinement? Obviously there were no rocks around or even garbage. But there was something he could use, his shoes and gloves. If he plugged it up with those things then maybe it would be enough to stop the liquid from coming in even if it was just for a minute. That might be long enough to break free depending on how much of his strength was not zapped by the liquid, but he had a life to save and he hoped that his determination would be enough to give him that needed extra boast.

The blue bomber looked at his hands and for a moment realized that this would be the first time he had ever removed his gloves. He never had any need to remove them. He could not even remember the first time he had ever put them on. They had become a part of him and if they were his own second skin. Sonic snapped out of his trance and took off his gloves without another thought. He then bent down and then removed his shoes, but as he was doing so he noticed that the shoes he was wearing were different then the ones he had been wearing for a few years now. These were his old shoes, the very same shoes he had started out on his adventures on. The same ones he wore when he first meet Tails, Knuckles, and even Amy. This must have been Eggman's way of being nostalgic. These could not possibly be his old shoes, he had them tucked away somewhere only he knew about. These were most likely a copy of his old pair. Still it did not stop him from taking them off his feet and shoving them along with his gloves into the feed. He held his breathe and hoped that this would work, if it did not then all hope would be lost and Amy would die in front of him without hearing the words "I'm sorry".

Sonic closed his eyes and something he never done in his entire life…he prayed. He was never one to believe in fate or that God existed, his belief was that life is what you make of it. He just hoped right now that God would listen to him. Even if this was his very first time trying to contact the deity, he just wished he knew some kind of prayer or chant to get the deity's attention. Sonic just hoped that God heard him and was willing to help a jerk like him.

The environment inside the tube felt different for the hedgehog. He could feel the liquid substance around him reseeding as it was being drained by the other connecting tube of his chamber. Sonic felt woozy at first, but it was nothing compared to how the muscle cramps he was feeling in his legs from lack of activity. He knew that he would need to work through the pain, no matter how much it fucking hurt him. Pain like this would be nothing if Amy died, and there was no cure for that. Everything Sonic was feeling right now made him stronger than he felt in years. He could not explain what he was feeling right now, but boy it sure felt good as it coursed through his veins. Most of all he could feel his strength returning to him as he formed another fist and aimed it at the glass in front of him, shattering his prison and sending the glass pieces all around the room. He was finally free, but he was still exhausted from having been in that liquid an awfully long time. Taking a deep breathe, Sonic flexed his hands as he felt a sting in his knuckles. He took a quick glance and noticed that he had cut his knuckles on the glass. It was bleeding, but the cut was not life threatening. He then kneeled down and gathered his belongings that he had use to plug the liquid tube feed for his escape.

They were wet, yet they did not have the same effect on him this time which he found a bit odd but nothing that would be threatening to take him down. He placed his gloves back on his hands, his blood soaking into his gloves. It would do as a make shift band-aid for now, but there was still a lot of work a head of him before he could relax and pamper Amy.

Sonic let himself crack a smile. It sure felt good doing it. He just hoped he would not get a cramp from not doing it for so long. He slowly and carefully stepped out of his capsule, making note of the pieces of glass on the ground in front him. He had no time to place his shoes on his feet, so had decided to tie the laces together and place it around his neck when he could get Amy as far away from this as possible. He was lucky that he left his socks as he carefully made his way towards the pink hedgehog. His feet would have been cut up pretty badly if he was barefoot, making his speed of no use to anyone until they were healed. Nothing would stop him from getting to her. Not even a pair of badly and bloody cut up feet.

Amy's capsule was in the darker side of the room. It had been a long time since he had seen her face. There were cuts and bruises on her body. Her clothes were nothing more than rugs now. It was almost erotic, but Sonic was not that type of perverted person to even consider getting a hard on in this kind of situation. Only a monster would do that, and he was no monster. She was so innocent. She did not deserve any of this, but she got it. He could tell from her facial expression that she was in great pain. He could only imagine and wish that he would know what she was feeling. She was probably still stuck in that damn nightmare that he helped create. He just prayed that she would find someway to forgive him, even if it would take an eternity and beyond.

Sonic ran his hands against the glass. He could not break the glass like he did before on his own tube. The glass would most likely hit her, and in her weaken condition do more harm than good. He had to find another way, but first he needed to drain her tube and do that he would need to pull both of tubes out. Even though he could, the air would have been vacuumed out and he knew she was not strong or alert to hold her own breathe like he was able to. That would mean he would need to time pulling them at the same time so that Amy would be safe. Even if he was able to do that, his next problem would be how to get her out of the capsule without the glass splattering against her. He took another deep breathe. He had to remain calm about this. If he lost his temper then he would lose his focus, and that would be no help to Amy. But right now time was of the essence and was already on borrowed time.

Sonic closed his eyes for a moment. He needed to think. Even if it was not his strongest of features, he could still come up with some good ideas when he was not doing something reckless. Then it dawned on him. He was in a room filled with computers of all size and most likely they interfaced with the capsules. But unlike Tails, Sonic was no computer wiz. He barely knew how to use one, and the only program he ever mastered was computerized solitaire. It looked like he would have to become a quick learner. He only prayed that he did not touch the wrong button or set off any alarms. That was another thing that Sonic noticed. Where were the alarms? Why have they not sounded yet? Probably because Eggman had assumed that there was no possible way for Sonic to break free. He shook his head. It did not surprise him that the old fart was still so gullible. Sonic let out a small chuckle as he went to looking for any button or switch on all of the consoles in room. Each one he pressed had no effect, he almost felt like he was being punished by God for all of the mean things he did to Amy. Even if God was trying to punish him, it still was not right to let Amy be a victim as he saw it. But if Amy died as part of God's plan, then she would finally be free from the suffering. Free from the pain and torment that he had put her through along with Eggman. He was no saint, but he would do anything now for her even if it meant dying with her too.


	18. Brazil

Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission or knowledge. All other characters belong to me. The places used as backdrops, except for SS, mentioned in this story are real. _Brazil (_Aquarela do Brasil) is copyrighted (1939) to Ary Barroso.

Sonic- 18 years

Amy (Paloma)- 16 years

Tails- 13 years

Knuckles- 20 years

Shadow- 19 years

Cream- 9 years

Rouge- 22 years

Chapter 18: Brazil

If a miracle was ever needed then it was definitely needed now. Sonic tried every single button and switch on the console in front of him with no success. He just could not understand it. This was the same exact console that Eggman was working from when he was in the room gloating over his so-called triumph over him, but why was it not working for him? Sonic definitely knew that there was no password needed or some sort of sensors in order to log-in into the system. It was just an ordinary computer console and definitely nothing special about it except that it was his only way to get Amy out safely. He must have missed something. It was probably something so obvious that it was staring him in the face, but where the hell could it be? He had tried everything on that console at least three times and now he was desperate as well as crazy enough to do anything stupid. This was indeed not fair, but then again nothing in life is totally or ever fair. For everything good we do in life in general, there is always something bad that might follow it somewhere down the line and this was one of them.

Sonic's eyes started to water in both frustration and in sadness. He could not save Amy without hurting or even killing her. There were many times in the past he had wished over and over again that she would leave him alone, but he never wanted something as bad as this to happen to her. He had always wished and assumed that she would one day grow up and find someone else to love. This was definitely not what he had in mind. He wanted her to live and he most certainly did not want to live with the feeling that he had a hand in killing her. Selfish as that thought was, he was still a living creature filled with normal impurities that rest of humanity were born with. How could he live with himself if he let an innocent die? He was a hero and not murderer. Even if Amy was going to die, he surely did not want her to die here of all places. No person as good and as kind as Amy deserved to die in hell or even a hell like this. If only he was a better person. If only he had treated her better, then she would not be suffering. Everything was his fault. Amy would have been fully conscious and happily hanging out with him if he had treated her like the friend she was. She was indeed a friend to the others and as well as him, even if he did not bother to reciprocate it. From the way Amy had been treated by Sonic, he would not be surprised in the slightest bit of anything if she had lost all faith and feelings for him. He most certainly deserved to lose her even if he was just starting to notice her as a friend and perhaps something more than one someday. Sonic never once tried to show Amy that she was his friend or even appreciated. The only time that he started to appreciate her was when she had left him in that false reality that Eggman had created. That damn fucking bastard had no right to do any of this. It just crossed the so-called line of normal morality. He had always treated her day in and day out as a pain in the ass if only he had given her a chance if only he could be mature enough to do it.

Sonic closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. He needed to focus and not try and lose his temper, even if it seemed like a losing battle. He could not help but remember one instance where he and Amy were together along with the others one hot summer's night. They were all very happy as they enjoyed their time together at a restaurant by the ocean. The cool ocean breeze was a relaxing and welcomed change than to what they were all experiencing in the muggy humidity filled confines of Station Square's concrete jungle. He could remember the smell of the seafood engulfed in butter, oil, various spices, and lemon as they were grilling on an open pit in the open sea air. There were multiple colors of Chinese lanterns littering the area as various climbing vines with white and pinkish flowers in full bloom added to the tropical atmosphere of the eatery. Tails and Knuckles were playing a game of darts off into the distance as Rouge and Shadow were downing shots of what seemed to be Russian Vodka and sucking on lime wedges at the bar as some sort of game they came up with. It was sort of funny to see Shadow make a sour puss face after each time he sucked on a lime. It was just so out of character for someone like him to fall victim to something as so simple as a lime. But for some strange it did not really surprise him to see Rouge holding her liquor and quite well he might add considering females tend to get drunk faster then males do. As for him, he sat at their booth enjoying the atmosphere of the place. It felt as if they were all on a carefree vacation at some tropical island resort. There was music playing that night from an old fashion radio that sat on top of a self behind the bar surrounded by various bottles of hard liquor and few empty soda cans. The radio was tattered and worn, and there was a hanger used in place of the original antenna. The power cord was wrapped in black electrical tape while fruit stickers littered the entire body of the radio. For an old radio, it sure handled well from all the years of use and abuse it received.

Sonic could not help but listen to the music playing on the radio that night. It just felt so very relaxing and definitely something he would listen to even if the song was indeed very old. His concentration was partially shattered when he felt a change in weight on the booth's cushioning. He slowly opened his left eye lid by just a crack and spotted Amy next to him starring at the beer shaped salt and pepper shaker as she was lost in thought. Even though she was not bothering him, it just felt kind of weird and out of character for her not to. If he didn't find out now, then it would be eating away at him for the rest of the night and perhaps till next week why she was not annoying him like always.

"Amy? Is umm…everything alright?" Sonic asked if almost forced out of him by some greater force.

Amy placed her hand up as if she wanted him to hold that thought for a moment. Like Sonic, she too was contently listening to the song on the radio. There was something about it that made them calm and acting civil for once. From what Sonic could remember from that night is that it was the very first time that he had allowed Amy to rest her head on his shoulder without any protest of any kind and the best part of it was that no one seemed to care or notice that he was cuddling close to a girl even if it was Amy. Hell must have frozen over for Sonic to allow Amy to rest against, but he was just way too relaxed by the song to care. Sonic closed his eyes again and went back to listening to the song on the radio once more as he took in Amy's scent.

_Brazil, where hearts were entertaining June  
We stood beneath an amber moon  
And softly murmured "someday soon"  
We kissed and clung together _

Then, tomorrow was another day  
The morning found me miles away  
With still a million things to say  
Now, when twilight dims the sky above  
Recalling thrills of our love  
There's one thing I'm certain of  
Return I will to old Brazil

Then, tomorrow was another day  
The morning found me miles away  
With still a million things to say  
Now, when twilight dims the sky above  
Recalling thrills of our love  
There's one thing that I'm certain of  
Return  
I will  
to old  
Brazil  
That old Brazil  
Man, it's old  
in Brazil  
Brazil, Brazil

Sonic opened his eyes once again only to reveal that he was still in the lab. He was calmer this time and humming the same song he had heard long ago on the radio as he slowly went over the console again, but this time finding the button he needed to free Amy from her glass and water filled prison. Before pressing the button, Sonic could not help but stare at her. There was so much he wanted and needed to say to her that he almost feared, before he calmed down, that would never get to say it to her. But by some twist of fate he would be able to, and probably when she recovered she might want to go that date she had so desperately wanted to go on with him since the day they first meet. If this was his _Christmas Carol,_ then Sonic was indeed a changed blue hedgehog. His false reality were like the three ghost in the story, only it did not revel his past actions towards Amy just current and future along with things he never dreamed of doing to anyone. He never thought that he would become a rapist, but he did in that false reality. Sonic never knew that he could be capable of becoming or even being a monster. But no one can ever be certain of what they can or can not do. Unlike everybody else, Sonic knew what he was capable of. In his heart and deep within his soul he knew that he was no monster and that whatever happened in that false reality was not his fault entirely. Sure his is responsible for his actions, but so was Eggman for putting him and Amy in a place like that.

Sonic took a deep breathe and pressed the button in front of him. Once that was completed, he sped off next to Amy's chamber and stood by her, ready and waiting to catch her. He never thought that he would be waiting for anyone including Amy. He was never a patient creature. His feet were always itching and burning for him to go somewhere, but this he would make an exception…for Amy.

Sonic stretched out his arms waiting to catch and hold her close to him again as the water drained and the chamber ascended above slowly in front of him. He did not know how he would welcome her back into his life again, but he did know that he would never let her go this time and Eggman himself would never be able to pry her out of his hands even if he was cold and dead. And as she slowly fell into Sonic's arms he could not help but cradle her gently as he kissed her forehead as her chest slowly raised and fell taking in the air around them for the first time in a very long time. Sonic just could not stop starring at how fragile and delicate she had become, thanks to Eggman's assistance.


End file.
